The Impact of Hotel Accommodation on the Mental Health of Asylum Seekers in the UK

In a global context of war and instability, more asylum seekers are seeking refuge in the UK.
\nDue to backlogs in processing asylum applications, the Home Office is increasingly housing
\nasylum seekers long-term in accommodation that was intended to be short-term, including
\nhotels. A systematic literature review found that asylum seekers are subjected to poor living
\nconditions, which adversely impact their mental health due to a lack of autonomy, feeling
\nunsafe, and lack of support. Building on these findings, this study aimed to understand the
\nimpact of a specific type of accommodation, hotels, on asylum seekers’ mental health. The
\nsequential explanatory mixed methods design involved quantitative data drawn from 147
\nasylum seekers’ mental health screening questionnaires and qualitative data drawn from
\ninterviews with 16 asylum-seeking participants who lived in hotels. The study found that
\nhotels negatively impact asylum seekers’ mental health, with asylum seekers living in hotels
\nexperiencing higher levels of housing problems, psychological distress, and depression
\ncompared to asylum seekers living in alternative housing. Reflexive thematic analysis of
\ninterview transcripts revealed three themes to explain why hotel accommodation negatively
\nimpacts asylum seekers’ mental health: lack of safety, lack of autonomy, and social isolation.
\nParticipants’ survival strategies and ideas for changing the housing system were also
\nexplored.
\nAsylum seekers reported that hotel accommodation both caused and exacerbated mental
\nhealth difficulties, raising important policy recommendations, including reducing asylum
\nseekers’ time in hotels, increasing flow through the asylum system, and prioritizing
\nvulnerable asylum seekers for community housing. Clinical implications include the
\nimportance of assessing the impact of housing on mental health, considering hotel
\naccommodation as a risk factor for self-harm and suicidal ideation, and referring asylum
\nseekers to community groups and religious organisations, as these connections were
\nidentified as survival strategies.