Council uses planning powers to stop asylum seekers being housed in third city hotel

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Health services and other resources are already under pressure in Coventry, the council says



A council has taken planning enforcement action to prevent the government from housing more than 100 extra asylum seekers in Coventry.

Coventry City Council said it was a "last resort" to stop contractor Serco turning property there into a hostel.

It added a new hostel would pressurise "already over-stretched" resources, saying Serco was running three in the city as things stood.

The government said the public expected it to cut asylum seekers' hotel costs.

As turning the site into a hostel would require a formal change of use under planning guidelines, the local authority has used a planning notice to challenge the move, preventing Serco from placing people there for an initial 28 days.

The council said it was proud of Coventry's history as a city of sanctuary, which was open and diverse, but it feared the new asylum seekers would not get the support they needed.

"I cannot stress enough that the issue we have is not with the people that would be placed [here], many of whom are fleeing terrible circumstances that we can barely imagine," said David Welsh, cabinet member for housing and communities.

"Our issue is with the unfair Home Office system that sees cities like Coventry take far more than our share; placing added pressure on an already overstretched local support system with no recurring funding to help pay for it."

Mr Welsh said specialist health services in the city were already struggling to manage the demand from people in existing hostels.

He added the attempt to launch a fourth was taken without council consultation, and it was unclear how long the venture was for and what support services, if any, were available.

Last year, Coventry was among West Midlands councils that sought a judicial review against the Home Office over its dispersal policy. It was withdrawn following a new policy approach by the government.

A government spokesperson said on Monday: "The number of people arriving in the UK who require accommodation has reached record levels due to the unacceptable rise in small boat arrivals and our commitment to accommodate those from Afghanistan.

"Every day the hotel bill for accommodating more than 45,500 asylum seekers and over 9,200 Afghans is £6.8m and the British public rightly expect that we reduce these costs as quickly as possible.

"We therefore continue to look at all available options to source appropriate and cost-effective temporary accommodation."

[dutchman]

Last night I spotted laundry hanging from the windows of the former Godiva Hotel in Holyhead Road which strongly suggests it's also being used to house asylum seekers.

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No Christmas decorations outside the former Godiva Hotel this year which reinforces my suspicion that it's being used to house asylum seekers.

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Councillor 'concerned' by new asylum hotel



Asylum seekers will be housed by the government at a hotel in Coventry, a senior councillor has said.

In a Facebook post seen by the BBC, Coventry City Council’s cabinet member for finance Richard Brown said the government had told the authority of its decision to use a hotel in the city as “contingency asylum accommodation”.

He said the decision was made "without any consultation with the council".

The Home Office said that it did not comment on individual sites.

Taking to social media, Mr Brown said the council had received "no prior notice" from the government.

“As the city of peace and reconciliation, Coventry has done more than most to help address hardship for genuine asylum seekers, but this site was previously rejected due to its isolation from services, community safety and security," he said.

“These fundamental issues remain unaddressed and therefore the council cannot support this action and will be making representations at ministerial level.”

The councillor, who has not responded to a request for comment from the BBC, also told residents that it was “very disappointing” that the decision had been “imposed” without a “proper consultation”.

Coventry Conservative group leader Gary Ridley said he was “deeply concerned about the whole situation”, adding that the communication from the Home Office had been “appalling”.

“Nobody told me anything about it,” he said.

"There’s a feeling in both parties that as a city we’ve done more than anyone to provide support for asylum seekers."

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Novotel Coventry issues statement on housing asylum seekers and says 'vicious'



A four-star Coventry hotel has hit back at claims they will be housing asylum seekers as 'completely untrue.' Posts making the unfounded allegations were shared on Facebook.

It was claimed the Novotel, on Wilsons Lane in Longford, would soon be 'closing' and 'used to house asylum seekers.' Hundreds responded to the rumours, which were circulated on Tuesday (November 19).

Posts making the allegations were also widely shared on Facebook. CoventryLive understands they have now been deleted.

Manager Harpreet Kandola told CoventryLive that the posts being circulated were 'vicious rumours.' She slammed them as being 'completely untrue.'

Currently, the Novotel, which is owned by French firm Accor, remains open to the public, Ms Kandola said. Guests can make bookings for 2025 by visiting All.

In a statement to CoventryLive, the Novotel said: “We can confirm that Novotel Coventry has been operating as a hotel and continues to welcome guests in line with our regular hotel operations. Please ignore the rumours being circulated.”

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A cynic might suggest a rapid re-think and damage limitation has been employed.