The estimated costs of accommodation for asylum seekers in Northern Ireland has risen to £400m, four times the original estimate.
That is according to a report by the UK Spending watchdog, the National Audit Office (NAO).
The NAO has examined the Home Office's asylum accommodation contracts across the UK.
In 2019, the Conservative government signed seven regional contracts with three private companies – Serco, Mears and Clearsprings – to help house asylum seekers.
In Northern Ireland, asylum accommodation is provided by Mears.
The UK has a legal commitment to support people seeking asylum, while it makes a decision on their asylum claim, by providing financial support and accommodation.
The NAO has looked at the amount the government has spent and is likely to spend on accommodation for asylum seekers in the decade from 2019 – 2029.
The Home Office originally estimated that the total cost of the contract in Northern Ireland for 2019-2029 would be £100m.
But according to the NAO, the Home Office's latest estimate for the cost in Northern Ireland from 2019-2029 is £400m.
In 2024-25 alone, the cost to the Home Office of asylum accommodation in Northern Ireland was £55m.
'System in chaos'
A Home Office spokesperson told BBC News NI the Labour government has "inherited an asylum system in chaos" with tens of thousands of people stuck in backlog, unprocessed claims and "disastrous contracts that were wasting millions in taxpayer money".
"We've taken immediate action to fix it – increasing asylum decision making by 52% and removing 24,000 people with no right to be here, meaning there are now fewer asylum hotels open than since the election," they added.
By "restoring grip on the system" with speedier decision making, the Home Office said it hopes to end of use of hotels and are forecast "to save the taxpayer £4 billion by the end of 2026".
On Monday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer outlined his government's plans to "tighten up" the immigration system, promising these will cause migration numbers to fall significantly.
People can be housed in hotels or "dispersed accommodation" (DA) like houses or flats while they wait for the government to make a decision on their claims for asylum.
The NAO report, which was commissioned by Parliament's Home Affairs Select Committee, says the number of asylum seekers in paid-for accommodation increased from around 47,000 in December 2019 to 110,000 in December 2024.
According to the NAO, there were 2,741 people in asylum accommodation in Northern Ireland in December 2024.
That included 413 people in hotels and 2,328 people in other accommodation.
Northern Ireland has the lowest number of people in asylum accommodation of the seven regions of the UK where the Home Office has regional contracts.
But according to the NAO, asylum accommodation in Northern Ireland is among the most profitable in the UK, with a profit margin of 15% for the supplier.
The NAO says that in total the three companies made a combined profit of £383m on asylum accommodation contracts between September 2019 and August 2024.
The Labour government has recently said that visa applications from nationalities thought most likely to overstay and claim asylum in the UK could be restricted.
