Trend
-84 Latest quarter change
+1,100 Change across series
48 Official data points
Sandwell
1,500 people housed on asylum support in Sandwell
Rank 9 of 361 councils nationally. The rate of 42.39 per 10,000 puts Sandwell in the 96th 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 2022. 136 in contingency accommodation (hotels, not housing). At roughly £150/person/day, that costs the taxpayer an estimated £82M per year for this area alone.
What asylum costs Sandwell
£29.5Mestimated hotel costs/year
£3.8Msubsistence payments/year
£1.8MLA dispersal grant/year
Estimates based on 1,500 people on asylum support in Sandwell (1.40% 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.
Sandwell: asylum numbers falling
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 1,328
Initial accommodation 0
Subsistence only 36
Contingency accommodation 136
Pathway breakdown
Other routes
Homes for Ukraine 229
Afghan programme 134
Resettlement cumulative 6
Population context
All pathways total 1,863
Share of local population 0.53%
Ethnic composition projection
Sandwell: WBI 52.1% (2021) → 11.3% (2051). White British minority by ~2022. 80% CI: 14.7–16.6%.
Ethnic composition: Sandwell
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: Sandwell
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 Sandwell ranges from 33.3% to 37.7% by 2051. That is a 4.4pp 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 35.1% by 2051
Religion projection
Muslim 14.2% (2021) → 33.0% (2051). Christian 42.2% → 8.5%.
Religion: Sandwell
Christian No religion Muslim Hindu Sikh
Religious affiliation projected from Census 2021 self-identification. Trends reflect demographic change in the existing population, not religious conversion.
Nativity
23.6% foreign-born (2021). Diversity: highly diverse (entropy 0.74). 83.6% main language English.
UK-born vs foreign-born: Sandwell
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.
established diversity: High foreign-born share means ethnic change is migration-driven. Future projections are sensitive to immigration policy.
Census 2021 mobility: 6.4% moved within UK, 0.8% arrived from abroad
white other 11.1% internal, 2.2% international
other 8.9% internal, 1.9% international
black 8.5% internal, 1.5% international
mixed 9.3% internal, 0.4% international
asian 6.3% internal, 1.5% international
white british 5.2% internal, 0.1% international
Why Sandwell is changing
-13.8ppWhite 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 Sandwell on UK Demographics →
Economy & housing by ethnicity
Census 2021 employment, homeownership, and qualifications by ethnic group.
Employment rate
White British 57.3%
Mixed 65.3%
White Other 72.8%
Other 56.3%
Homeownership rate
White British 56.5%
Mixed 32.2%
White Other 29.1%
Other 49.1%
Degree+ qualification rate
White British 22.1%
Mixed 27%
White Other 27.7%
Other 26.6%
Source
Census 2021 RM018 (economic activity), RM134 (tenure), RM049 (qualifications) by ethnic group. Observed, not projected.
School ethnicity
DfE School Census 2024/25: 62,349 pupils. 35.2% White British. Schools are 16.8pp more diverse than the general population.
Pupil ethnicity
White British 35.2%
Asian 33.9%
Black 12%
Mixed 10.3%
White Other 5.3%
Other 3.3%
What this means
Schools are 17pp more diverse than the general population. Schools show the future.
64.8% Minority pupils now
81% Projected 2041
Demographic pipeline
34.1% Primary WBI
36.2% Secondary WBI
Stable demographic pipeline.
Fertility proxy (10-year school trend): WBI share in primary schools changing at -1.19pp/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 39.9% vs school 35.2% (-4.7pp 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
1,500 National distribution.
Supported asylum rate
42.39 Per 10,000 residents.
Contingency accommodation
136 Hotel and contingency placements.
Regional peers
Top 5 in West Midlands by supported asylum.