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London

Tower Hamlets

Updated 30 Jun 2026 · Home Office
473 people on asylum support in Tower Hamlets

Rank 64 of 361 councils nationally. The rate of 14.15 per 10,000 puts Tower Hamlets in the 69th percentile. That means a moderate load compared to the national picture. 22 of them receive subsistence only and are not in Home Office accommodation. 48 in contingency accommodation (hotels, not housing). Accommodation and support for 473 people at £107 per person per day is about £18.5M a year.

What asylum costs Tower Hamlets

£10.7Mestimated hotel costs/year
£1.2Msubsistence payments/year
£568KLA dispersal grant/year

Estimates based on 473 people on asylum support in Tower Hamlets(0.51% 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.

Tower Hamlets: 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.

494
9216143070Mar 2014Dec 2025Peak Dec 2024Rwanda schemeAlbania dealBibby StockholmRwanda scrapped
Exact values
PeriodValue
Mar 201424
Jun 201424
Sept 201422
Dec 201420
Mar 201523
Jun 201524
Sept 201522
Dec 201517
Mar 201616
Jun 201616
Sept 201616
Dec 201619
Mar 201718
Jun 201716
Sept 201719
Dec 201720
Mar 201822
Jun 201826
Sept 201826
Dec 201826
Mar 201936
Jun 201933
Sept 201931
Dec 201927
Mar 202030
Jun 202040
Sept 202062
Dec 202091
Mar 2021150
Jun 2021171
Sept 2021219
Dec 2021344
Mar 2022344
Jun 2022371
Sept 2022356
Dec 2022704
Mar 2023449
Jun 2023673
Sept 2023879
Dec 2023895
Mar 2024920
Jun 2024765
Sept 2024893
Dec 2024921
Mar 2025868
Jun 2025541
Sept 2025516
Dec 2025494

Trend

-22Latest quarter change
+470Change across series
48Official data points

Local numbers

Accommodation split

Dispersal accommodation403
Initial accommodation0
Subsistence only22
Contingency accommodation48

Pathway breakdown

Supported asylum
473
Homes for Ukraine
853
Afghan programme
22
Resettlement cumulative
21

Other routes

Homes for Ukraine853
Afghan programme22
Resettlement cumulative21

Population context

All pathways total1,348
Share of local population0.4%

Ethnic composition projection

Tower Hamlets: White British 22.9% (2021) to 6.7% (2051). 80% CI: 5.8, 8.2%.

Ethnic composition: Tower Hamlets

015314661% of populationCensus 2021IllustrativeWhite British 4% in 2061White Other 7% in 2061Asian 56% in 2061Black 13% in 2061Mixed 8% in 2061Other 12% in 206120112021203120412051
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: Tower Hamlets

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

2011
31%
14%
41%
9%
2021
23%
16%
44%
2031proj
16%
14%
51%
9%
2041proj
10%
10%
55%
10%
2051proj
8%
56%
11%
10%
2061proj
56%
13%
12%
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 Tower Hamlets ranges from14.3% to 15.7%by 2051. That is a 1.5pp 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 14.9% by 2051

Religion projection

Muslim 42.9% (2021) → 40.4% (2051). Christian 23.9% → 8.1%.

Religion: Tower Hamlets

315274052%Census 2021Christian 8% in 2051No religion 47% in 2051Muslim 40% in 20512021203120412051
ChristianNo religionMuslim

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

Nativity

46.8% foreign-born (2021). Diversity: highly diverse (entropy 0.82). 73% main language English.

UK-born vs foreign-born: Tower Hamlets

1532506885%Census 2021UK-born 20% in 2051Foreign-born 80% 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: 16.1% moved within UK, 3.4% arrived from abroad
white other28.5% internal, 7.6% international
other19.1% internal, 6.5% international
mixed20.5% internal, 3.5% international
white british18.8% internal, 1% international
black12.5% internal, 1.9% international
asian10.1% internal, 3% international

Why Tower Hamlets is changing

-8.2pp
National trend
-6.4pp
Age structure
+3.9pp
Local migration
-5.8pp

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 Tower Hamlets on UK Demographics →