Work starts to extend former Witney asylum seeker hotel

The Oxford Witney Hotel in Ducklington Lane is being reconfigured to accommodate 14 additional suites on the ground floor.

It was previously used as accommodation for asylum seekers in the UK, from late 2022 until June this year, when the government shut down a host of hotels used for this purpose.

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Figures from the Home Office state that there were 124 asylum seekers living in the district as of June 30 this year, many of them likely to be in the hotel.

A planning application to extend the hotel by 14 rooms, relocate the main reception and the health suite, including removing the pool, and reconfigure the entry ways and landscaping.

The plans were approved by West Oxfordshire District Council last December, and work has now begun on the site with the building fenced off.

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Sharing a video from a visit he made to the site, district councillor Liam Mackenzie (Conservative) for the Ducklington ward said he was ‘glad’ to see it used as a hotel again, adding: “As you can see behind me, work is underway to prepare it for that use.

Liam Mackenzie (Image: WODC)

“The pool is being replaced with a number of new rooms and the reception, the bar, the restaurant and the conference facility are being upgraded.

“We’re not sure exactly when it will reopen, but having heard from people who have worked here, who have held their wedding receptions here, or who have had relatives stay here while visiting them, I am glad that this hotel is returning to use for our community.”

The number of asylum seekers being housed temporarily in UK hotels has fallen to its lowest level since data was first reported in 2022, according to Home Office figures published last month.

There were 20,885 people staying in such accommodation while they were awaiting a decision on their asylum claims at the end of March, down 35 per cent year-on-year from 32,326.

The total had climbed as high as 56,018 at the end of September 2023.

The issue of people being housed in hotels came to the fore last year with protests outside some sites.

There are currently 120 asylum seekers being housed in temporary hotel accommodation in West Oxfordshire.

This figure is part of a broader total of 423 asylum seekers temporarily housed in hotels across the wider Oxfordshire region.