Migrant crisis: The full list of towns where taxpayers could pay rent for Channel crossing migrants - Is your area impacted?

George Bunn

Published: 26/04/2025

- 21:33

Updated: 27/04/2025

- 18:43

The full list of towns and cities where taxpayers could end up paying the rent for Channel crossing migrants has been revealed.

According to the website of Serco, one of three private contractors working for the Home Office, the firm's full dispersal portfolio currently spans across 120 local authorities.

It comes just hours after Serco was revealed to be offering landlords five-year guaranteed full rent deals at the expense of taxpayers.

The list, which was was not drawn up by the Home Office and was subsequently removed, had been split into three areas, the North West, the Midlands and the East of England, with Serco admitting: "We are continuing to work with new Local Authorities across our region to extend the Serco footprint." However, the company's website also stated: "All areas are currently closed for Procurement in the North West."

$\u200bIs your town impacted? Read the full lists below.$

Is your town impacted? Read the full lists below.

PA

The towns listed in the East of England are:

Babergh/Mid Suffolk
Breckland
Broadlands/South Norfolk
Cambridge
East Cambridgeshire
East Suffolk
Fenland
Great Yarmouth
Ipswich
Kings Lynn & West Norfolk
Mid Suffolk
North Norfolk
Norwich
Peterborough
South Cambridgeshire (Cambourne, Sawston)
South Norfolk
West Suffolk (Bury, Newmarket, Brandon, Haverhill, Mildenhall)

Small boats

This push comes after a new record for daily small boat arrivals was set earlier this monthPA

The towns and cities listed in the Midlands are:

$A 'refugees welcome' banner attached to a bicycle by a small flotilla of boats leaving Bristol harbour\u200b$

A 'refugees welcome' banner attached to a bicycle by a small flotilla of boats leaving Bristol harbour

PA

The towns and cities listed in the North West are:

Home Office sign

Home Office figures reveal contractors are now responsible for housing 65,700 asylum seekers, a 10-year highPA

There are approximately 1.3 million people on the social housing waiting list as cheaper private rented accommodation is in high demand.

One council leader told LBC: "It’s Serco who are encouraging landlords to exploit taxpayers, then it’s blamed on councils because of the impact it has on local rents, services and social cohesion. I don’t think it’s good for the fabric of society or the individuals involved."

A Home Office spokesman said the department is "intensifying" collaboration with France and other countries over tackling gangs' business models, and introducing tougher enforcement powers under new legislation.

In a statement today, a Home Office spokesman said: "The list of local authorities Serco shared on its website for landlords is not a Home Office list, nor is it a list of any existing or future asylum accommodation.

"Serco is one of several companies contracted by the previous Government six years ago to provide dispersal asylum accommodation in different regions and this list simply appears to reflect the geographical list of local authorities covered by the Serco contracts at that time.

"We are restoring order to the asylum system and cutting costs to taxpayers by reducing the number of people we are required to accommodate through a rapid increase in asylum decision-making and the removal of more than 24,000 people with no right to be in the UK."

A Serco spokesman added: "The list of councils on our website reflects local authority areas covered by our Asylum Accommodation and Support Services contract, which we have had for six years with the Home Office.

"This does not indicate the Government will be opening new accommodation in these areas."