Two Eastbourne hotels to stop being used to house asylum seekers

The properties will be part of the first wave of 50 hotels across the country to stop taking migrants because of the impact on Eastbourne’s visitor economy, according to MP Caroline Ansell.

Mrs Ansell said she spoke to the immigration minister Robert Jenrick to go through the details and has worked with the council.

She added: “I am very pleased these two hotels in Eastbourne will no longer be used to house asylum seekers and hopefully they can go back to taking our tourists. This is something I committed to when I met hoteliers and B&B owners and it is a boost to our town.

“What this means is that some asylum seekers still in the assessment process will be more appropriately housed. It is right that there is a fairer and more equitable dispersal across the region and country and that coastal communities do not bear the brunt.

“Those whose application has been successful will now have recourse to funds through Universal Credit and can seek employment. It is very often the case, they will move to join family or connections in other parts of the country. Some will be disappointed with a rejection of their case and plans will be made to return them to their home country.”

The MP also welcomed news that the number of small boat crossings continues to fall following agreements with France and Albania, along with stricter penalties for those connected to illegal migration.

Mrs Ansell said she will write to the borough council in support of its measures to ensure the hotels are brought back into tourist use.

She added that she shared the council’s concern about possible homelessness and would work with it.

The MP said: “Eastbourne is a generous and compassionate town, but the truth is we simply do not have the capacity to provide for all those who would seek social housing. That already applies to local people so it cannot be for those from other places.

“It is for this reason the government is looking to establish a cap on the number of asylum seeker applications we can accept and it will be built on local government’s ability to provide shelter and services.”