UK asylum appeals backlog hits new record high

Flora Thompson and Ian Jones, Press Association

The UK asylum appeals backlog has hit a new record high and is now more than seven times the level it was a decade ago, figures show.

There were 87,450 cases in the system at the end of March, up 72% from 50,976 a year earlier. It stood at 11,660 in the same period in 2016, when current records began.

Data published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on Thursday showed more than a third (40%) of appeals were successful between January and March this year.

This is down from 43% in the same period last year.

The average waiting time to clear an asylum appeal was 67 weeks, the MoJ said, up from 54 weeks in the same three-month period at the start of last year.

The figures come after a group of MPs who scrutinise government spending last week warned the asylum system was on the brink of collapse.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the Home Office has focused on short-term fixes and does not have a clear strategy.

The Refugee Council previously said many people face being “stuck” in hotels and other asylum accommodation while they wait for a decision on their case.

An asylum case can refer to one person or to a group of people – typically a main applicant and their family members.

Statistics published at the end of last year showed the backlog of asylum appeals was, for the first time, higher than the backlog of cases waiting for an initial decision on an application.

The latest Government statistics, published by the Home Office in May, showed the backlog of people waiting for an initial decision on an asylum application in the UK had dropped sharply to its lowest level in more than six years.

Some 48,758 people were waiting for an initial decision on an asylum application at the end of March 2026.

Experts have said the backlog in appeals underlines the challenges the Government faces as it aims to end the use of hotels for asylum seekers.

Labour pledged to stop using asylum hotels by the next election.

The number of asylum seekers being housed temporarily in UK hotels has fallen to its lowest level since data was first reported in 2022, according to separate Home Office figures published last month.

There were 20,885 people staying in such accommodation while they were awaiting a decision on their asylum claims at the end of March, down 35% year-on-year from 32,326.

The total had climbed as high as 56,018 at the end of September 2023.

The issue of people being housed in hotels came to the fore last year with protests outside some sites.