Scotland

South Ayrshire

Updated 30 Jun 2026 · Home Office · Corrections log
Alan Gemmell
Alan GemmellLabour · Central Ayrshire

2 MPs cover constituencies in or overlapping South Ayrshire.

20 people on asylum support in South Ayrshire

Rank 282 of 361 councils nationally. The rate of 1.78 per 10,000 puts South Ayrshire in the 25th percentile. That means fewer than 75% of areas. 2 of them receive subsistence only and are not in Home Office accommodation. Accommodation and support for 20 people at £107 per person per day is about £0.8M a year.

What asylum costs South Ayrshire

£452Kestimated hotel costs/year
£51Ksubsistence payments/year
£24KLA dispersal grant/year

Estimates based on 20 people on asylum support in South Ayrshire(0.02% of 93,293 nationally at 30 Jun 2026). Hotel costs pro-rated from £5.77M/day national spend in 2024/25 (House of Commons Library, CDP-2025-0184). Subsistence: £49.18/week per person.

How many asylum seekers are in South Ayrshire?

20 people were receiving Home Office asylum support in South Ayrshire at 30 June 2026, the most recent quarter published. That ranks 282nd of 361 UK local authorities. It counts people on support at that date, which is not the number who claimed asylum there and not the number waiting for a decision.

How many asylum seekers per 10,000 people are in South Ayrshire?

1.78 per 10,000 residents, which places South Ayrshire in the 25th percentile of UK local authorities. It carries fewer per head than 75% of the country. Rate is the fair comparison between areas, because a large city carries more people than a small district at the same pressure per head.

Are there asylum hotels in South Ayrshire?

Not on the published figures. South Ayrshire recorded nobody in contingency accommodation at 30 June 2026, which is the category that includes hotels. The 20 people on asylum support there are recorded in dispersal housing or on subsistence-only support.

Who houses asylum seekers in South Ayrshire?

Mears holds the Home Office asylum accommodation contract for the region South Ayrshire sits in, under the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts. The contract covers a whole region rather than a single council, and the Home Office does not publish a council-by-council split of which properties sit under it.

Are all of them in Home Office accommodation in South Ayrshire?

No. 2 of the 20 on support in South Ayrshire, about 10%, receive subsistence only: a cash payment with no accommodation, usually because they are living with friends or family. The rest are in Home Office accommodation, which covers dispersal housing and hotels.

South Ayrshire: asylum numbers still rising

Quarter-end stock series to Jun 2026. 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.

20
211470Mar 2014Jun 2026Peak Dec 2025Rwanda schemeAlbania dealBibby StockholmRwanda scrapped
Exact values
PeriodValue
Mar 20141
Jun 20141
Sept 20141
Dec 20141
Mar 20151
Jun 20152
Sept 20152
Dec 20152
Mar 20162
Jun 20163
Sept 20162
Dec 20162
Mar 20172
Jun 20173
Sept 20173
Dec 20173
Mar 20183
Jun 20183
Sept 20183
Dec 20183
Mar 20194
Jun 20194
Sept 20191
Dec 20191
Mar 20201
Jun 20201
Sept 20201
Dec 20201
Mar 20221
Jun 20221
Sept 20221
Dec 20221
Mar 20231
Sept 20234
Sept 202410
Dec 202410
Mar 202512
Jun 202515
Sept 202515
Dec 202521
Mar 202617
Jun 202620

Trend

+3Latest quarter change
+19Change across series
42Official data points

Local numbers

Accommodation split

Dispersal accommodation18
Initial accommodation0
Subsistence only2
Contingency accommodation0

Pathway breakdown

Supported asylum
20
Homes for Ukraine
155
Afghan programme
20
Resettlement cumulative
45

Other routes

Homes for Ukraine155
Afghan programme20
Resettlement cumulative45

Population context

All pathways total195
Share of local population0.17%