asylumstatsFollow the money
Yorkshire and The Humber

Wakefield

Updated 30 Jun 2026 · Home Office
Simon Lightwood
Simon LightwoodLabour (Co-op) · Wakefield and Rothwell
724 people on asylum support in Wakefield

Rank 33 of 361 councils nationally. The rate of 19.6 per 10,000 puts Wakefield in the 81st percentile. That means this area carries more than most. 17 of them receive subsistence only and are not in Home Office accommodation. 114 in contingency accommodation (hotels, not housing). Accommodation and support for 724 people at £107 per person per day is about £28.3M a year.

What asylum costs Wakefield

£16.3Mestimated hotel costs/year
£1.9Msubsistence payments/year
£869KLA dispersal grant/year

Estimates based on 724 people on asylum support in Wakefield(0.78% 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. 1 known hotel sites in this area.

Wakefield: 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.

713
8835892940Mar 2014Dec 2025Peak Mar 2023Rwanda schemeAlbania dealBibby StockholmRwanda scrapped
Exact values
PeriodValue
Mar 201468
Jun 201460
Sept 201434
Dec 201433
Mar 201537
Jun 201582
Sept 201538
Dec 201546
Mar 2016163
Jun 201678
Sept 201649
Dec 201639
Mar 201736
Jun 201738
Sept 201747
Dec 201755
Mar 2018109
Jun 2018124
Sept 2018150
Dec 2018123
Mar 2019201
Jun 2019155
Sept 2019166
Dec 2019357
Mar 2020315
Jun 2020343
Sept 2020254
Dec 2020229
Mar 2021229
Jun 2021363
Sept 2021390
Dec 2021406
Mar 2022353
Jun 2022464
Sept 2022382
Dec 2022384
Mar 2023883
Jun 2023639
Sept 2023850
Dec 2023571
Mar 2024464
Jun 2024704
Sept 2024814
Dec 2024723
Mar 2025741
Jun 2025734
Sept 2025831
Dec 2025713

Trend

-118Latest quarter change
+645Change across series
48Official data points

Local numbers

Accommodation split

Dispersal accommodation313
Initial accommodation280
Subsistence only17
Contingency accommodation114

Pathway breakdown

Supported asylum
724
Homes for Ukraine
297
Afghan programme
149
Resettlement cumulative
208

Other routes

Homes for Ukraine297
Afghan programme149
Resettlement cumulative208

Population context

All pathways total1,170
Share of local population0.32%

Ethnic composition projection

Wakefield: White British 88.2% (2021) to 70.2% (2051). 80% CI: 69.2, 73.7%.

Ethnic composition: Wakefield

024497398% of populationCensus 2021IllustrativeWhite British 61% in 2061White Other 12% in 2061Asian 8% in 2061Black 6% in 2061Mixed 9% in 2061Other 5% 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: Wakefield

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

2011
93%
2021
88%
2031proj
84%
2041proj
78%
9%
2051proj
70%
10%
2061proj
61%
12%
9%
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 Wakefield ranges from67.7% to 77.6%by 2051. That is a 9.8pp 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 71.8% by 2051

Religion projection

Muslim 3.4% (2021) → 5.6% (2051). Christian 51.8% → 8.3%.

Religion: Wakefield

022456790%Census 2021Christian 8% in 2051No religion 85% in 2051Muslim 6% in 20512021203120412051
ChristianNo religionMuslim

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

Nativity

8.5% foreign-born (2021). Diversity: low diversity (entropy 0.29). 94.5% main language English.

UK-born vs foreign-born: Wakefield

427507397%Census 2021UK-born 70% in 2051Foreign-born 30% 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.

low immigration: Limited ethnic diversity. Projections primarily driven by national trends.

Census 2021 mobility: 7.3% moved within UK, 0.4% arrived from abroad
black12.8% internal, 2.9% international
other10.3% internal, 4.3% international
white other11.7% internal, 2.5% international
mixed10.8% internal, 0.7% international
asian7% internal, 2.3% international
white british6.9% internal, 0.1% international

Why Wakefield is changing

-4.6pp
National trend
-6.4pp
Age structure
-1pp
Local migration
+2.8pp

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 Wakefield on UK Demographics →