Napier Barracks closes as UK moves to shutter asylum hotels

Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent, closed on Friday, marking the end of more than three years of housing asylum seekers at the 130-year-old former military site.

Opened in 2020, the barracks drew repeated criticism over living conditions, including during the coronavirus outbreak when a large number of cases were reported. Inspections since February 2021 highlighted concerns about upkeep and welfare for residents, who at its peak numbered more than 300.

The Home Office said it planned to completely vacate the site by the end of the month to hand it back to the Ministry of Defence, ahead of a March transfer to a housing developer that purchased the property. The government has said it intends to close every asylum hotel as part of a broader reform of accommodation for asylum seekers.

The government had previously announced discussions to use barracks in Crowborough in East Sussex and Inverness in Scotland to house about 900 male asylum seekers in total. Napier Barracks housed more than 300 at its peak, but it was believed to have fewer than 100 residents ahead of its closure.

Care4Calais on Sunday said it completed its final clothing distribution at the barracks. A spokesperson for the charity said: "We were never allowed indoors, so we worked outside in all weathers. It was not how we wanted to work, but our volunteers did it with care, dignity, and determination."

The Home Office said it would not comment on individual asylum accommodation sites or on operational arrangements around those sites. It also reiterated plans to close all asylum hotels as part of its wider reforms to immigration and accommodation.

The earlier announcements that barracks in Crowborough and Inverness could be used to house about 900 male asylum seekers reflected a broader push to shift away from hotel-based housing toward more centralized accommodation options. As Napier Barracks closes, the government is moving to finalize transfers and redevelop the site for housing, with the expectation that the May-to-March transfer timeline will be followed by the property being handed over to the developer.

In Folkestone, residents, local officials, and advocacy groups have watched the closure unfold amid ongoing debate over the best model for asylum accommodation in the country. While Napier’s days as a migrant-housing site are over, questions about welfare standards and the long-term approach to asylum housing remain at the center of policy discussions in Westminster and across the United Kingdom.