Scottish Conservatives have accused First Minister John Swinney of "burying his head in the sand" over what they describe as an asylum hotel crisis and will press the Scottish Parliament to demand the closure of all asylum hotels across Scotland.
In a debate scheduled for Wednesday, the party will call for an end to what it calls an "open-door attitude" that it says is drawing illegal migration and benefiting criminal gangs, while also acknowledging that the Conservative-era policy of housing asylum seekers in hotels was a mistake.
The row underscores growing strain on local authorities, particularly Glasgow, which as of June 30 was housing 3,844 asylum seekers — about 90% of the Scottish total and roughly 40% more than the next-highest local authority in the UK, Birmingham. City leaders have warned the situation is placing unsustainable pressure on budgets and frontline services.
Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken said the council faced a £90 million budget gap next year, with about £66 million explained by a homelessness overspend driven in part by people who are granted refugee status while in Glasgow and subsequently require settled accommodation. Other councils across Scotland have also seen protests and demonstrations outside hotels in Perth, Aberdeenshire and Falkirk, and Saltire flags have been placed on lampposts in Glasgow and Aberdeen in protest.
The Scottish Government and Conservative critics differ over responsibility and remedies. Swinney has said Scotland should remain welcoming, declaring, "Our saltire is a flag of welcome — and refugees are welcome here." The Conservatives say that approach, combined with recent devolved policy changes, has incentivised movement to Scotland and compounded local pressures.
Under devolved Scottish policies, single men as well as families deemed to be in "priority need" can be entitled to council-funded homeless accommodation even without a local connection. The SNP government removed the "priority need" test for homelessness in 2012 and abolished the "local connection" rule in 2022. Scotland's 2018 "New Scots" refugee integration strategy described the country as having "among the strongest rights in Europe for people facing homelessness." A 2024 update to the strategy acknowledged that foreign wars and other pressures had "significantly stretched resources and capacity to support refugee integration."
The Home Office is responsible for asylum decisions and for dispersing people to accommodation. The Mears Group holds a contract to provide housing for asylum seekers and has leased properties across Scotland. In written submissions to the Commons Home Affairs Committee, Glasgow health officials and others warned that the Home Office–Mears arrangements had placed a disproportionate share of asylum accommodation in the city. A Home Office plan had estimated a requirement of about 1,000 bed spaces in Glasgow, officials said, but actual usage reached about 4,000 out of a UK capacity of 6,700. The council and campaigners have said that properties leased by Mears reduce the supply of private and social housing otherwise available to people in need locally.
Craig Hoy, the Scottish Conservatives' social security and local government spokesperson, said the current system "can't continue because it's financially unsustainable," and called on both the Scottish and UK governments to act together. He told Holyrood colleagues the policy was "helping criminal gangs who make their fortune by preying on desperate individuals" and urged the early closure of hotels housing asylum seekers.
The SNP's equalities minister, Kaukab Stewart, said asylum and immigration decisions are reserved to the UK Government and that UK policies were creating pressures across the United Kingdom, including in Glasgow. Stewart urged Westminster to provide adequate funding to support newly recognised refugees and to avoid rhetoric that could target vulnerable people.
Aitken said Glasgow was experiencing a "perfect storm," driven by both the mass processing of people already in the city and by newly recognised refugees relocating from elsewhere in the UK because of Scotland's more generous housing rules. She warned that the city was rapidly approaching an unsustainable financial position but said vulnerable people were not to blame and criticised wider policy failures.
The issue comes as the UK Government, which is responsible for borders and asylum policy, signals a tougher approach. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said ministers could suspend visas for countries that refuse to accept returns and vowed to do "whatever it takes" to stop small boat crossings. The Scottish Government has repeatedly pointed out the split in responsibilities, saying many services for refugees and asylum seekers — including health, education, social care, legal aid and homeless accommodation — are devolved.
Groups working on refugee issues have warned of the practical consequences of policy divergence. The Scottish Refugee Council told MPs that differential Scottish policy had contributed to "unprecedented pressure" on Glasgow's housing stock. Submissions to parliamentary committees have highlighted the concentration of asylum accommodation in Glasgow and the impact on local services and housing availability.
The Holyrood debate is expected to be politically charged, with the Conservatives formally seeking the closure of asylum hotels across Scotland and SNP-aligned figures urging a focus on coordinated funding and policy responses that reflect the split in responsibilities between Edinburgh and Westminster. The outcome could sharpen an already fraught national conversation over housing, migration and the responsibilities of different levels of government.