Home Office abandons plan to house asylum seekers at military base

Plans to send up to 300 asylum seekers to a military base in the Scottish Highlands have been abandoned by the Home Secretary in the face of legal objections. Shabana Mahmood had planned to house people at Cameron Barracks in Inverness as part of her plan to clear highly controversial asylum hotels that have become flashpoints for sometimes violent anti-migrant protests. But a Government source said Mahmood was now abandoning the plan after resistance from the Scottish National Party (SNP). It is understood the Home Secretary will nevertheless announce new military sites for asylum accommodation later this week as she accelerates hotel closures across the country to meet a pledge to end their use by 2029, with 12 currently in operation in Scotland housing more than 670 people. ‘Wrong plan in the wrong place’ The abandonment of the plan to use Cameron Barracks to house asylum seekers came after the Highland Council, run by a coalition of SNP and independent councillors, objected because the site does not have a multiple occupancy (HMO) licence. Separately, High Court judges ruled last month that forcing torture victims to share rooms was unlawful, in a blow to Mahmood’s plans to move more asylum seekers into ex-army barracks. The Home Secretary is nevertheless set to push ahead with the announcement of new military sites later this week. The Government blames the SNP for scuppering the Cameron Barracks plan due to its demands for an HMO licence, which the Home Office had argued was unnecessary given the base was used for broadly the same purpose under the Afghan resettlement scheme. A Government source said: “The Cameron Barracks will not be progressed. “The SNP would rather have asylum hotels costing millions a year, rather than moving illegal migrants into more basic accommodation like military sites.” The Home Office had wanted to move up to 300 single, male asylum seekers into Cameron Barracks in Inverness in early December, planning to use the site for 12 months. Cameron Barracks in Inverness, Scotland. The Government blames the SNP for scrapping the Cameron Barracks plan due to its demands for an HMO licence (Photo: Paul Campbell/Getty) Earlier this month, The i Paper reported that SNP council leader Raymond Bremner and Lib Dem opposition leader Alasdair Christie wrote to the Home Office citing the potentially negative impact on “community cohesion”, and made clear that a HMO licence was needed. Isabelle MacKenzie, a Conservative councillor in Inverness, said at the time placing up to 300 asylum seekers in the site on the edge of the city centre was “the wrong plan in the wrong place”. Voter anger over asylum hotels Inverness has seen both anti-migrant protests and counter-demonstrations by anti-racism activists over the barracks plan in recent months. Some charities have urged the Home Office to U-turn on using military barracks for asylum accommodation entirely, given Labour previously argued against the idea when in opposition. The i Paper previously reported how people living in barracks at RAF Wethersfield in Essex have had to cope with outside showers, rats and leaking toilets. But Mahmood is pushing ahead with the policy as part of the solution to quell voter anger over asylum hotels, moving around 350 people into Crowborough army camp in East Sussex earlier this year. There were 93,653 people in asylum accommodation as of March 2026, with around 22 per cent (20,885) in hotels. In April, the Government subsequently said there were around 185 hotels in operation after the closure of 11 sites. Andy Burnham, who is on course to take over as prime minister next month, is believed to back proposals to rip up multibillion-pound asylum hotel contracts and make councils house migrants, despite warnings this could be unworkable due to the difficulty of finding accommodation. The SNP have been approached for comment.