King William Court Apartments, Chelmsford

King William Court is a five storey former office block at 1 Legg Street in Chelmsford city centre, redeveloped in the early 2020s into 98 brand new luxury apartments and marketed as one of Chelmsford's most sought after residential complexes. The conversion was a multi million pound project targeting Chelmsford commuter market buyers given direct Liverpool Street rail links. In summer 2023 the Home Office took control of the entire development to house asylum seekers awaiting processing rather than allowing the flats to enter the open market or rental pool^[1]Press.

GB News and the New English Review reported on 31 July 2023 that the Home Office had block booked the entire 98 unit development for an initial term of 18 months to two years, with dozens of migrants already moved in by that point. Chelmsford City Council told the press it had only limited grounds for a legal challenge against the Home Office and did not intend to take court action. The Home Office issued its standard line that the use of hotels to house asylum seekers was unacceptable while spending around £6 million per day across the estate, and that it was working with local authorities on alternatives^[1]Press.

The site sits within the Serco Midlands and East England regional contract per the National Audit Office's May 2025 review, meaning Chelmsford asylum dispersal is tasked through Serco rather than Clearsprings (which holds the South and Wales regions) or Mears (which holds North East, Yorkshire and Humber, Scotland and Northern Ireland)^[3]NAO.

Essex Live reported in November 2025 that asylum seekers at King William Court felt scared after a Friday 7 November 2025 protest on nearby Springfield Road. Groups carrying Union flags and St George's flags chanted stop the boats and send them home, opposing buses transporting people from the Wethersfield asylum centre through the city. Essex Police facilitated both the protest and a counter protest. The article cited government figures of 341 asylum seekers in Chelmsford and 708 of Essex's 2,704 asylum seekers in hotel accommodation^[2]Press.

Liberal Democrat Chelmsford MP Marie Goldman told the paper that Chelmsford was a welcoming and compassionate city and that it was heartbreaking to hear asylum seekers had felt unsafe. The Home Office told Essex Live it condemned any public disorder targeting asylum seekers, staff or buildings^[2]Press.

At the £170 per person per night Migration Observatory benchmark^[4], full occupation of the 98 apartments by the Home Office implies headline taxpayer exposure of around £16,660 per night and roughly £6.08 million per year. That is roughly in line with the May 2025 NAO contract review average of £5.84 million per year per asylum hotel^[5]NAO. The £170 figure is the headline hotel benchmark; the King William Court contract is technically a block booked apartment block rather than a serviced hotel, so per-unit billing may be lower, though Serco subcontracted MEE dispersal billing remains opaque.