Home Office Slammed Over £15m Asbestos Hotspot Buy
The Home Office is under fire for splashing £15 million on a dilapidated, asbestos-tainted former prison in East Sussex, meant to house asylum seekers. The National Audit Office (NAO) has blasted the deal as rushed and reckless, with key checks left undone.
Double Price for Derelict Dump
The Northeye site was snagged in 2023 for more than double the £6.3 million paid just a year earlier by its previous owners. The NAO report flags pressure inside the Home Office, driven by then-PM Rishi Sunak’s vow to ditch hotels for asylum housing, as the root of the sloppy decision-making.
Into the bargain, the site came with asbestos warnings and “high risk” environmental flags. Despite this, ministers including Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Dowden green-lit the purchase, favouring speed over standard safety checks.
Stark Repairs Bill Kept Secret
- Initial estimates pegged refurbishment costs at around £20 million — yet this figure was smacked down from the official advice to ministers.
- Post-purchase, extra cleanup could tack on £1.1 million to £3.6 million to clear contamination.
- Plans to house 1,200 to 1,400 asylum seekers were scrapped after officials deemed Northeye unsuitable.
- To date, no work has begun on making the site habitable.
Local Anger and Government Backlash
Conservative MP Dr Kieran Mullen slammed the botched buy as “not fair” on his Bexhill and Battle constituents. “I absolutely regret that we didn’t acquire this site in the best possible way,” he said, hoping the fiasco serves as a lesson.
The NAO condemned the Home Office for paying over the odds for an unsuitable site. Public Accounts Committee chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown vowed a fresh inquiry, slamming the “rushed and misjudged decision-making” which ignored clear warnings.
While the Home Office insists its drive to end hotel use for asylum seekers remains firm, Labour’s government has yet to decide on Northeye’s fate. For now, the NAO leaves the door open on whether this costly gamble was worth it at all.
