Asylum seekers are set to be ordered to leave a 16th-century manor house under Labour’s crackdown on migrant hotel usage.
The Grade II-listed Madeley Court manor house in Telford, Shropshire, will be one of four asylum hotels to be shut, with 800 asylum seekers set to be moved.
Serco, a Home Office contractor, operates the accommodation, which is considered to be one of the most luxurious and offers £150-a-night rooms with four-poster beds.
The 50-bedroom hotel has been housing asylum seekers for more than four years, but Serco plans to close down it and three others it operates by April 19.
Migrants residing in the hotel will be moved to alternative “dispersal” accommodation which comprises private, self-contained or shared houses or flats.
The Government is also proposing to move migrants to military sites such as Crowborough Training Camp in East Sussex, despite protestations from local residents.
Other locations that could be used for accommodation include tower blocks, former student accommodation, and industrial sites.
A Government source said: “These are part of what will be a ramping up of closures of hotels this spring and wider plans to move illegal migrants into more basic forms of accommodation.
The Grade II-listed Madeley Court is one of four to close as the Government pivots away from migrant hotels
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“It is part of much broader reforms to stop incentives that lead people to cross the Channel. If it is good enough for the army, it is good enough for migrants.”
The other three hotels to no longer be used as migrant accommodation are Oyo Lakeside in St Helens, Britannia Hotel in Wolverhampton and the Crewe Arms Hotel have been subject of protests and fierce local opposition.
The local council opposed the decision to use the Britannia Hotel as migrant accommodation, raising concerns over safety and welfare.
The Home Office also faced a temporary injunction when it first attempted to move 200 asylum seekers into the hotel in 2021.
The 50 bedroom hotel has been housing asylum seekers for more than four years
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Senior council officials and local politicians in St Helens claimed asylum seekers had been “verbally abused” after a protest outside of the Oyo Lakeside Hotel in August last year.
Anthony Burns, the council leader, said: “The families and children do not deserve to be verbally abused. Anyone who has seen the footage from the event will share this concern.
“There is no place for hate speech, racism, or bigotry in St Helens. We will not tolerate any efforts to threaten the safety, dignity, or cohesion of our community.”
Serco operates 60 hotels on behalf of the Home Office to house asylum seekers.
It is estimated the company is responsible for housing 30,000 migrants.
All migrant relocations are expected to be completed before the final closure date, with residents being given at least five day’s notice of their move.
A Serco spokesman said: “Serco is committed to ending the use of hotels, and we are about to close four that we operate.
“Since 2023, we have exited more than half of the hotels we manage, and we are looking at viable alternative solutions which deliver better value for taxpayers.”
