Trend
+5 Latest quarter change
+11 Change across series
48 Official data points
Wandsworth
84 people housed on asylum support in Wandsworth
Rank 192 of 361 councils nationally. The rate of 2.49 per 10,000 puts Wandsworth in the 29th percentile. That means fewer than most areas. At roughly £150/person/day, that costs the taxpayer an estimated £5M per year for this area alone.
What asylum costs Wandsworth
£1.7Mestimated hotel costs/year
£215Ksubsistence payments/year
£101KLA dispersal grant/year
Estimates based on 84 people on asylum support in Wandsworth (0.08% 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.
Wandsworth: asylum numbers still rising
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 68
Initial accommodation 0
Subsistence only 16
Contingency accommodation 0
Pathway breakdown
Other routes
Homes for Ukraine 1,378
Afghan programme 87
Resettlement cumulative 51
Population context
All pathways total 1,549
Share of local population 0.46%
Ethnic composition projection
Wandsworth: WBI 48.0% (2021) → 26.7% (2051). 80% CI: 23.8–30.8%.
Ethnic composition: Wandsworth
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: Wandsworth
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 Wandsworth ranges from 35.7% to 39.9% by 2051. That is a 4.2pp 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 37.5% by 2051
Religion projection
Muslim 10.7% (2021) → 14.0% (2051). Christian 45.9% → 16.8%.
Religion: Wandsworth
Christian No religion Muslim
Religious affiliation projected from Census 2021 self-identification. Trends reflect demographic change in the existing population, not religious conversion.
Nativity
37.9% foreign-born (2021). Diversity: highly diverse (entropy 0.82). 82.9% main language English.
UK-born vs foreign-born: Wandsworth
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.
high immigration gateway: High foreign-born share means ethnic change is migration-driven. Future projections are sensitive to immigration policy.
Census 2021 mobility: 17.1% moved within UK, 1.9% arrived from abroad
white other 20.1% internal, 3.7% international
white british 19.1% internal, 0.9% international
other 15.7% internal, 3.6% international
mixed 16.2% internal, 1.9% international
asian 12.1% internal, 3% international
black 8.3% internal, 1% international
Why Wandsworth is changing
-5.4ppWhite British change 2011–2021. Cyan = decline. Amber = growth.
Dominant driver: national trend. 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 Wandsworth on UK Demographics →
Economy & housing by ethnicity
Census 2021 employment, homeownership, and qualifications by ethnic group.
Employment rate
White British 71.5%
Mixed 72.9%
White Other 82.2%
Other 66.3%
Homeownership rate
White British 48.1%
Mixed 32.5%
White Other 36.3%
Other 29.1%
Degree+ qualification rate
White British 62.3%
Mixed 55%
White Other 67.5%
Other 51.5%
Source
Census 2021 RM018 (economic activity), RM134 (tenure), RM049 (qualifications) by ethnic group. Observed, not projected.
School ethnicity
DfE School Census 2024/25: 31,164 pupils. 26.2% White British. Schools are 21.8pp more diverse than the general population.
Pupil ethnicity
White British 26.2%
Black 18.9%
Asian 17.8%
Mixed 16.1%
White Other 15.8%
Other 5.3%
What this means
Schools are 22pp more diverse than the general population. Schools show the future.
73.8% Minority pupils now
73.8% Projected 2041
Demographic pipeline
28.2% Primary WBI
23.2% Secondary WBI
Slowing diversification. Primary schools are less diverse than secondary.
Fertility proxy (10-year school trend): WBI share in primary schools changing at -0.04pp/year. Gradual diversification in school-age population.
Source & validation
DfE School Census 2024/25. State-funded schools. Upper-tier LA level. Validated against Census 2021 ages 4-15: Census WBI 40.1% vs school 26.2% (-13.9pp 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
84 National distribution.
Supported asylum rate
2.49 Per 10,000 residents.
Contingency accommodation
0 Hotel and contingency placements.
Regional peers
Top 6 in London by supported asylum.