Trend
+47 Latest quarter change
+723 Change across series
48 Official data points
Reading
Matt Rodda
2 MPs cover constituencies in or overlapping Reading.
578 people housed on asylum support in Reading
Rank 53 of 361 councils nationally. The rate of 31.6 per 10,000 puts Reading in the 92nd percentile. That means this area carries more asylum seekers per head than 90% of the country. White British projected to be a minority by approximately 2024. 275 in contingency accommodation (hotels, not housing). At roughly £150/person/day, that costs the taxpayer an estimated £32M per year for this area alone.
What asylum costs Reading
£11.4Mestimated hotel costs/year
£1.5Msubsistence payments/year
£694KLA dispersal grant/year
Estimates based on 578 people on asylum support in Reading (0.54% of 107,003 nationally). Hotel costs pro-rated from £5.77M/day national spend (2024/25 average, NAO). Subsistence: £49.18/week per person. Nationally, the hotel bill alone costs £62 per taxpayer per year.
Reading: asylum numbers still rising
Quarter-end stock series to Dec 2025. A rise or fall is a net change in the number of people on support at period end, not the number of new claims or distinct people moving through the caseload. Support stock also overlaps with, but is not identical to, the awaiting-decision backlog.
Local numbers
Accommodation split
Dispersal accommodation 299
Initial accommodation 0
Subsistence only 4
Contingency accommodation 275
Pathway breakdown
Other routes
Homes for Ukraine 453
Afghan programme 116
Resettlement cumulative 53
Population context
All pathways total 1,147
Share of local population 0.63%
Ethnic composition projection
Reading: WBI 53.5% (2021) → 19.0% (2051). White British minority by ~2024. 80% CI: 20.5–24.7%.
Ethnic composition: Reading
White British White Other Asian Black Mixed Other 80% CI
Each line shows one ethnic group's share of the local population. The shaded band is the 80% confidence range. Values after 2051 are illustrative only.
Ethnic composition: Reading
Census 2011, Census 2021, then Hamilton-Perry projections to 2051. Percentages.
White British White Other Asian Black Mixed Other
Model: Hamilton-Perry single-year CCRs, 1,000 Monte Carlo simulations, SNPP-constrained
Census 2011 to 2021 cohort change ratios. Shaded band = 80% confidence interval from stochastic perturbation. Not a forecast.
Scenario explorer
Under different assumptions, White British share in Reading ranges from 32.4% to 39.4% by 2051. That is a 6.9pp spread.
Fertility
Low ~108k/yr
Principal ~315k/yr
High ~476k/yr
Constant Rates stay at current levels
Half convergence Move halfway to national avg
Full convergence Converge to national avg
Migration
Central scenario: WBI 35.2% by 2051
Religion projection
Muslim 9.6% (2021) → 14.0% (2051). Christian 42.5% → 15.6%.
Religion: Reading
Christian No religion Muslim Hindu
Religious affiliation projected from Census 2021 self-identification. Trends reflect demographic change in the existing population, not religious conversion.
Nativity
33.5% foreign-born (2021). Diversity: highly diverse (entropy 0.76). 81.1% main language English.
UK-born vs foreign-born: Reading
UK-born Foreign-born
Share of the local population born outside the UK. Movement reflects both new arrivals and the UK-born children of existing residents reaching adulthood.
high immigration gateway: High foreign-born share means ethnic change is migration-driven. Future projections are sensitive to immigration policy.
Census 2021 mobility: 12.8% moved within UK, 2.2% arrived from abroad
other 14.4% internal, 8.2% international
white other 17.4% internal, 4.6% international
asian 12.9% internal, 5% international
mixed 13.6% internal, 1.5% international
black 10.8% internal, 2.6% international
white british 11.6% internal, 0.4% international
Why Reading is changing
-11.9ppWhite British change 2011–2021. Cyan = decline. Amber = growth.
Dominant driver: local migration. Shift-share methodology following Franklin (2014).
Full demographic profile
School pressure, housing demand, service demand scoring, economic profile, language projections, and more on UK Demographics.
View Reading on UK Demographics →
Economy & housing by ethnicity
Census 2021 employment, homeownership, and qualifications by ethnic group.
Employment rate
White British 64.5%
Mixed 68.9%
White Other 81.2%
Other 62.4%
Homeownership rate
White British 56.3%
Mixed 30.6%
White Other 33.5%
Other 31.2%
Degree+ qualification rate
White British 38.9%
Mixed 34.2%
White Other 49.4%
Other 44.9%
Source
Census 2021 RM018 (economic activity), RM134 (tenure), RM049 (qualifications) by ethnic group. Observed, not projected.
School ethnicity
DfE School Census 2024/25: 23,990 pupils. 31.4% White British. Schools are 22.1pp more diverse than the general population.
Pupil ethnicity
Asian 32%
White British 31.4%
Mixed 12.4%
White Other 11.1%
Black 10.4%
Other 2.7%
What this means
Schools are 22pp more diverse than the general population. Schools show the future.
68.6% Minority pupils now
76.2% Projected 2041
Demographic pipeline
31.8% Primary WBI
29.6% Secondary WBI
Stable demographic pipeline.
Fertility proxy (10-year school trend): WBI share in primary schools changing at -1.5pp/year. Rapid diversification in young cohorts. The demographic wave is accelerating.
Source & validation
DfE School Census 2024/25. State-funded schools. Upper-tier LA level. Validated against Census 2021 ages 4-15: Census WBI 45.3% vs school 31.4% (-13.9pp gap).
Service demand impact
Projected impact of demographic change on local services.
non-English speakers
NHS and council services will need increased interpreter/translation provision.
foreign-born growth to 2051
High foreign-born population growth will drive additional housing demand, particularly in the private rented sector.
EAL growth
Significant additional EAL (English as Additional Language) support likely needed.
National benchmarks
Supported asylum count
578 National distribution.
Supported asylum rate
31.6 Per 10,000 residents.
Contingency accommodation
275 Hotel and contingency placements.
Regional peers
Top 5 in South East by supported asylum.