Brook House IRC, Gatwick
Brook House Immigration Removal Centre sits inside the airside perimeter of Gatwick Airport, in the borough of Crawley. Operated by Serco under a Home Office contract, it is one of the largest male IRCs in the country with capacity for around 508 detainees. The site was the subject of the statutory Brook House Inquiry, which examined evidence of mistreatment of detainees by detention custody officers between April and August 2017[1]IMB.
Capacity
508
bedspaces
Per night
£350
per resident
Annual
£65m
estimated
Background
Brook House opened in 2009 alongside Tinsley House as part of a paired IRC estate at Gatwick Airport. It is operated by Serco under a long-running Home Office contract. The Independent Monitoring Board has produced annual reports on conditions at the site for over a decade[1]IMB.
The Brook House Inquiry
Following undercover BBC Panorama footage broadcast in 2017, the Home Secretary established a statutory public inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005, chaired by Kate Eves. The final report, published in September 2023, made 33 recommendations including a maximum 28-day limit on immigration detention. The IMB's 2023 report subsequently tracked the Home Office's response across the Gatwick estate[1]IMB.
Cost analysis
At an indicative IRC bed-day rate of £350, Brook House's 508-bed capacity implies an annual operating run-rate of roughly £64.8 million if fully utilised. The May 2025 NAO accommodation report tracked the asylum hotel bill of £1.296 billion separately from detention costs but identified detention modalities as among the most expensive options for the public purse[2]NAO.
Per-person per-day cost stack (IRC benchmark)
£350- Detention staffing & security£22063%
- Estate / facilities£6017%
- Healthcare & mental health£3510%
- Legal aid & casework£206%
- Transport / removals£154%
Cost in context
Brook House IRC
£350
benchmark
UK asylum hotel avg
£170
NAO
Asylum dispersed flat
£50
commercial
Hostel bed
£30
commercial
Timeline
Timeline
2009
Brook House IRC opens at Gatwick
2017
BBC Panorama undercover footage
Triggered the statutory Brook House Inquiry.
Sep 2023
Brook House Inquiry final report published
33 recommendations including a 28-day detention time limit.
2024-26
IMB and inspectorate scrutiny continues
Sources
- Independent Monitoring Board: Gatwick IRCs annual report 2023 — Independent Monitoring Board, Aug 2024
IMB annual report covering Brook House and Tinsley House at Gatwick, including the more-than-doubling of use-of-force incidents at Brook House in 2023.
- The Home Office's asylum accommodation contracts — National Audit Office, May 2025
222 hotels in use; £1.296 billion annual (2024/25); per-hotel approximately £5.84 million.