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London

Southwark

Updated 30 Jun 2026 · Home Office
Neil Coyle
Neil CoyleLabour · Bermondsey and Old Southwark
496 people on asylum support in Southwark

Rank 59 of 361 councils nationally. The rate of 15.88 per 10,000 puts Southwark in the 73rd percentile. That means this area carries more than most. 41 of them receive subsistence only and are not in Home Office accommodation. 280 in contingency accommodation (hotels, not housing). Accommodation and support for 496 people at £107 per person per day is about £19.4M a year.

What asylum costs Southwark

£11.2Mestimated hotel costs/year
£1.3Msubsistence payments/year
£595KLA dispersal grant/year

Estimates based on 496 people on asylum support in Southwark(0.53% 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.

Southwark: 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.

532
2,3631,5757880Mar 2014Dec 2025Peak Mar 2023Rwanda schemeAlbania dealBibby StockholmRwanda scrapped
Exact values
PeriodValue
Mar 201468
Jun 201463
Sept 201479
Dec 201473
Mar 201582
Jun 201589
Sept 201575
Dec 201559
Mar 201659
Jun 201660
Sept 201655
Dec 201640
Mar 201731
Jun 201731
Sept 201733
Dec 201735
Mar 201842
Jun 201858
Sept 201849
Dec 201853
Mar 201959
Jun 201949
Sept 201999
Dec 201966
Mar 2020253
Jun 2020369
Sept 2020534
Dec 2020494
Mar 2021447
Jun 20211,223
Sept 20211,378
Dec 20211,517
Mar 20221,403
Jun 20222,203
Sept 20221,914
Dec 20222,219
Mar 20232,363
Jun 20231,412
Sept 20231,584
Dec 20231,215
Mar 20241,241
Jun 20241,177
Sept 20241,165
Dec 2024983
Mar 2025914
Jun 2025633
Sept 2025676
Dec 2025532

Trend

-144Latest quarter change
+464Change across series
48Official data points

Local numbers

Accommodation split

Dispersal accommodation20
Initial accommodation155
Subsistence only41
Contingency accommodation280

Pathway breakdown

Supported asylum
496
Homes for Ukraine
1,046
Afghan programme
50
Resettlement cumulative
54

Other routes

Homes for Ukraine1,046
Afghan programme50
Resettlement cumulative54

Population context

All pathways total1,592
Share of local population0.51%

Ethnic composition projection

Shown to 2051 rather than 2061. Past that point the model puts a residual Census category above a quarter of the population and several times its 2021 share, which is unconstrained compounding rather than a forecast, so those years are withheld.

Southwark: White British 35.5% (2021) to 19.4% (2051). 80% CI: 17.5, 22.6%.

Ethnic composition: Southwark

011223445% of populationCensus 2021White British 19% in 2051White Other 11% in 2051Asian 11% in 2051Black 22% in 2051Mixed 13% in 2051Other 24% in 205120112021203120412051
White BritishWhite OtherAsianBlackMixedOther 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: Southwark

Census 2011, Census 2021, then Hamilton-Perry projections to 2051. Percentages.

2011
40%
15%
9%
30%
2021
36%
16%
10%
25%
2031proj
30%
15%
10%
25%
9%
10%
2041proj
25%
13%
11%
24%
11%
16%
2051proj
19%
11%
11%
22%
13%
24%
White BritishWhite OtherAsianBlackMixedOther
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 Southwark ranges from23.8% to 26.5%by 2051. That is a 2.7pp spread.

Fertility
Low~108k/yr
Principal~315k/yr
High~476k/yr
ConstantRates stay at current levels
Half convergenceMove halfway to national avg
Full convergenceConverge to national avg
Migration
Central scenario: WBI 24.9% by 2051

Religion projection

Muslim 10.4% (2021) → 10.4% (2051). Christian 46.7% → 18.1%.

Religion: Southwark

522395673%Census 2021Christian 18% in 2051No religion 68% in 2051Muslim 10% in 20512021203120412051
ChristianNo religionMuslim

Religious affiliation projected from Census 2021 self-identification. Trends reflect demographic change in the existing population, not religious conversion.

Nativity

40.7% foreign-born (2021). Diversity: highly diverse (entropy 0.89). 82% main language English.

UK-born vs foreign-born: Southwark

1934506681%Census 2021UK-born 24% in 2051Foreign-born 76% in 20512021203120412051
UK-bornForeign-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: 13.5% moved within UK, 2.2% arrived from abroad
white other20.6% internal, 5.1% international
asian14.8% internal, 5.5% international
other13.1% internal, 3.8% international
white british15.8% internal, 0.8% international
mixed14.2% internal, 2.1% international
black5.3% internal, 0.8% international

Why Southwark is changing

-4.2pp
National trend
-6.4pp
Age structure
+3.2pp
Local migration
-1pp

White British change 2011-2021. Cyan = decline. Amber = growth.

Dominant driver: national trend. Shift-share methodology following Franklin (2014).

Full demographic profileSchool pressure, housing demand, service demand scoring, economic profile, language projections, and more on UK Demographics.View Southwark on UK Demographics →