Abbey Sands Hotel, Torquay
The Abbey Sands Hotel, a seafront hotel on Belgrave Road in Torquay (Torbay, Devon) owned by Keith Richardson of Richardson Hotels, was used by the Home Office as temporary asylum accommodation over the winter of 2022-23[1]. Residents were moved out around late June 2023 so the rooms could return to summer tourism, and the building reverted to a commercial hotel[2].
Background
The Abbey Sands is a seafront hotel on Belgrave Road in central Torquay, part of Keith Richardson's Richardson Hotels group. Over the winter of 2022-23 it was one of the Torbay hotels used by the Home Office for full-board asylum accommodation; Torbay Council named Clearsprings Ready Homes as the Home Office's contractor for asylum hotels in the area and sought a judicial review of their use, though its statement did not name individual hotels[3]. In June 2023 Torbay Weekly reported that the asylum seekers were to leave the hotel[1], and owner Keith Richardson said they were being moved out around late June so the rooms could return to summer tourism, adding that there had been little damage, that the community had been supportive, and that he would have them back[2].
Timeline
Timeline
Winter 2022-23
Used for asylum accommodation
One of the Torbay hotels used by the Home Office (Clearsprings the area contractor) over the winter.
Jun 2023
Asylum seekers to leave
Torbay Weekly reports residents are to be moved out of the hotel.
Late Jun 2023
Residents moved out
Owner Keith Richardson says rooms are returning to summer tourism; reports little damage and would have them back.
Cost analysis
No per-hotel Home Office contract figure has been published for the Abbey Sands, and the asylum capacity was not made public, so no reliable per-site cost can be given. As a general benchmark, the Migration Observatory reported an average of around £170 per person per night for hotel asylum accommodation[4].
Sources
- Asylum seekers to leave Torquay hotel — Torbay Weekly, Jun 2023
Torbay Weekly reported that asylum seekers who had been housed at the Abbey Sands Hotel on Belgrave Road, Torquay over the winter of 2022-23 were to be moved out of the hotel.
- "I would have them back" says hotelier as asylum seekers are moved out — Greatest Hits Radio (Devon), Jun 2023
Owner Keith Richardson (Richardson Hotels) said asylum seekers were being moved out of the Abbey Sands Hotel in Torquay around late June 2023 so the rooms could return to summer tourism, adding that there had been little damage, that the community had been supportive, and that he would have them back.
- Update regarding Asylum Accommodation in Torbay — Torbay Council, Nov 2022
Torbay Council named Clearsprings Ready Homes as the Home Office contractor for asylum-accommodation hotels in the Torbay area and said it would seek a judicial review of the use of local hotels; the statement did not name individual hotels.
- Asylum accommodation in the UK — Migration Observatory, University of Oxford, Aug 2025
£170 per person per day in hotels (2024/25 average); used for per-hotel estimates and food/utilities breakdowns.