Every asylum claim costs taxpayers £18.7K | UK | News
Each asylum claim made in the UK costs taxpayers an average of £18,700, according to newly published Home Office figures.
The figure, disclosed in official background documents to the new Immigration and Asylum Act, covers accommodation, subsistence support, administrative procedures and legal appeals.
This means the overall system is now costing billions of dollars each year, with more than 93,000 applications submitted in the year to March alone.
The Home Office said the average figure was based on asylum applications made between July 2024 and June 2025.
This amount includes the costs of sheltering asylum seekers, providing financial support and processing applications, including objections, through the system.
The department said the average reflected a mixed group of applicants, including those who arrived illegally via small boat crossings and those who entered the UK legally on a work or student visa before claiming asylum.
What is the total cost of the asylum system?
Based on the same average figure, the cost of processing and supporting the 93,525 asylum claims made by March is estimated to be around £1.7bn.
In June alone, 2,742 people reached the UK via small boat crossings. Using the same calculation, this monthly purchase would cost the taxpayer more than £51 million.
However, officials emphasized that actual costs vary significantly depending on the type of claim and individual circumstances.
Previous Home Office data showed that supporting an asylum-seeking family costs an average of £158,000 a year.
What do broader data on asylum and migration show?
The impact assessment, published alongside the government’s Immigration and Asylum Bill and reported by the Daily Mail, also found that more than three-quarters of applicants claiming the “right to family and private life” under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights were unemployed at the time of applying.
The document stated that this figure includes people with and without permission to work in the United Kingdom.
It was stated that 76 percent of the applicants were “unemployed at the time of application”.
Could reforms increase asylum claims?
The review also warned that changes proposed to address the perception of abuse of Article 8’s human rights provisions could unintentionally increase asylum claims.
The increase in rejected Article 8 claims could lead to more people entering the immigration enforcement system, including both voluntary departures and forced removals, it said.
However, he noted that enforcement capacity was limited, making it difficult to predict the overall impact on issuances.
The document stated that only five percent of family and private life denials involving immigration enforcement in 2022 led to mandatory returns.
He also warned that increasing the number of rejections could lead to a surge in asylum applications.
What was the political reaction?
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp criticized Labour’s approach, describing it as minor adjustments that would have little practical impact.
He said previous attempts to improve Article 8 rules had already failed.
He added that the only effective way to reduce illegal immigration would be to step up deportations, with the UK leaving the European Convention on Human Rights and modern slavery protections entirely.
Mr Philp said: “The only way to end illegal immigration is to withdraw completely from the ECHR and the modern slavery treaty, which allows the deportation of all illegal immigrants within a week of their arrival.
“Only the Conservatives have a properly thought-out plan to do this.
“These Labor ploys will not move the needle and are merely performative – just like their previous ridiculous claims to crack down on gangs.”
