Hillingdon's council leader has called on the government to refund migrant housing costs (Image: Getty)
A London council has seen its migrant housing costs soar after an influx of arrivals from the Chagos Islands hiked up existing spending on asylum seekers. Hillingdon Council, the first port of call for migrants arriving in the UK from Heathrow, is struggling to provide local services because of the financial strain caused by fast-growing temporary housing costs, its leader said. Conservative councillor Ian Edwards said nearly ￡18million has been spent on providing housing for asylum seekers over the last five years and warned that the spiralling spending was impacting the local authority's capacity to provide other functions for residents.
Hillingdon, which lies around five miles from Heathrow Airport, is home to an average of 2,700 hotel-based asylum seekers, MailOnline reports. Around 400 migrants from the Chagos Islands have also flooded the west London borough in the last two years, putting an increased pressure on the council and a financial burden that taxpayers are being forced to pick up, according to Mr Edwards.
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The Prime Minister agreed a deal to hand the Chagos Islands over to Mauritius earlier this year (Image: Getty)
The council leader has called on the Labour government to reimburse the hefty housing sum and provide extra funding for the future, to tackle a problem that "shows no signs of going away".
"￡18 million is a lot of money and it's not right that the residents of Hillingdon are expected to pick up this tab," he said.
"The government should do the right thing. Our reserves are being drained and it's threatening our ability to provide services to residents. This is a national problem, and the burden needs to be carried more equitably."
"We have one of the highest rates of asylum seekers in the country and now we have the issue of the Chagos Islanders," he added. "I accept that the government has a difficult job, but they are not recognising that it's causing harm to our borough and are not doing anything to prevent that harm."
Keir Starmer handed control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in May in a controversial deal that ended 161 years of British rule - during which time residents were evicted from the territory to create a joint US-UK military base.
Mr Edwards said Hillingdon Council had spent ￡16 million on housing asylum seekers over the last five years, alongside a further ￡508,000 on supporting Chagos Islands residents between July 2024 and March 2025, with a further ￡1.2 million set aside for the rest of the financial year.
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He warned that the increased costs had left the local authority no choice but to implement ￡34 million worth of cuts and the introduction of a ￡70-a-year garden waste collection charge.
"We are not cutting essential services, but we are having to make savings and see where we can increase income," he added. "This is a direct result of two things: the government increasing National Insurance contributions for employers and the asylum crisis."
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been contacted for comment.
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