Old Palace Lodge, Dunstable
The Old Palace Lodge is a Grade II listed four star hotel on Church Street in Dunstable (LU5 4RT), opposite the Priory Church of St Peter[13]GOV.UK. The site closed to the public on 22 January 2023 after the owners accepted a Home Office contract, cancelling weddings and other functions at short notice[1]Press[10]Broadcast.
Capacity
132
peak residents (out of 150 contracted beds)
Per night
£170
per resident
Annual
£8.2m
estimated
Background
The Old Palace Lodge is a Grade II listed building on Church Street in central Dunstable. The Historic England list entry records the site as Kingsbury Court Old Palace Lodge Hotel, dating back several centuries, with the building converted into a hotel by Creasey Hotels in 1960[13]GOV.UK. By early 2023 it operated as a four star hotel with around 68 rooms, function suites and a restaurant, and was widely used for local weddings and business events[1]Press.
Luton Today reported the owners had previously refused Home Office plans to use the site for asylum accommodation before accepting the contract with a heavy heart, citing energy bills that had risen from £4,600 to almost £27,000 per month in 2022 alongside higher interest rates and post pandemic borrowing costs[3]Press.
January 2023 closure and wedding cancellations
The hotel closed to the public on 22 January 2023, with several weddings, christenings and business functions cancelled at very short notice. ITV News Anglia carried the story of one Bedfordshire couple whose wedding was called off by the new occupancy[10]Broadcast. Bedfordshire Live reported that Central Bedfordshire Council and Dunstable Town Council had been given no advance information about who would be placed at the site or what local support would be put in place[8]Press.
South West Bedfordshire MP Andrew Selous later confirmed that the Home Office had only first approached him about the Old Palace Lodge on 15 December 2022, just five weeks before the closure[14]GOV.UK. Around 90 single adult males were bused in from a London contingency hotel reaching the end of its own contract, under a Clearsprings Ready Homes agreement for around 150 beds of temporary accommodation[2]Press.
Public meeting and protest activity
A packed public meeting was held in the Priory Church on 16 February 2023, chaired by Town Mayor Cllr Liz Jones with Andrew Selous MP, Old Palace Lodge representative ViV Vayssieres and Inspector Cray Burch of Bedfordshire Police on the panel[4]Press. Bedfordshire Police officers were stationed outside the venue to keep the meeting from being disrupted, after Patriotic Alternative leaflets had already named the site and slogans such as "You pay, migrants stay" appeared in the area[5]Press. Inside the church a Patriotic Alternative activist addressed the room and was applauded by a section of the audience.
Bedfordshire Live followed up with confirmation from Central Bedfordshire Council that more than 90 asylum seekers from Nigeria, Syria and Afghanistan were living at the hotel[9]Press. Novara Media reported that several asylum seekers in South London were resisting transfer to Dunstable after the leafleting campaign and local protest activity, with current residents saying they were often followed and filmed when they ventured outside[12]Press. Andrew Selous publicly called on ITV News Anglia for an end to the use of hotels for asylum accommodation[11]Broadcast.
Paperwork delays and rising headcount
Although the site had been framed as short stay contingency accommodation, Luton Today reported in 2023 that at least 80 of 132 asylum seekers placed at the Old Palace Lodge had been there for more than six months because of Home Office paperwork delays[6]Press. The 132 figure marked the upper bound of headcount during the contract; the Clearsprings agreement provided around 150 beds in total[2]Press.
June 2024 contract end
In 2024 Luton Today reported that the Home Office had terminated its contract with the four star hotel as a venue for asylum accommodation, with the site confirmed to cease housing asylum seekers before the end of June 2024 and current residents moved on to other parts of the asylum estate[7]Press.
Cost analysis
At the £170 per person per night Migration Observatory benchmark[15], 132 residents at peak occupancy implies headline taxpayer exposure of about £22,440 per night and roughly £8.19 million per year. Across the 17 months of asylum use, the run rate works out to approximately £11.6 million on the accommodation contract alone, sitting close to the May 2025 NAO contract review average of about £5.84 million per year per hotel[16]NAO.
Per-person per-day cost stack (benchmark)
£170- Hotel rate (room + three meals)£10059%
- Weekly cash allowance£74%
- Legal aid & casework£127%
- NHS / interpreter / utilities£1911%
- Contractor / security overhead£3219%
Cost in context
Old Palace Lodge (closed)
£170
closed-period benchmark
UK asylum hotel avg
£170
NAO
Dunstable budget hotel
£60
commercial
Hostel bed
£30
commercial
Timeline
Timeline
1960
Opens as the Old Palace Lodge Hotel after Creasey Hotels refurbishment of the Grade II listed Church Street building.
15 Dec 2022
Home Office first approaches MP
Andrew Selous MP later confirms the department only contacted him about the Old Palace Lodge five weeks before the closure.
22 Jan 2023
Closes to public
Hotel closes with immediate effect after owners accept a Home Office contract; weddings and functions cancelled at short notice.
Feb 2023
Around 90 residents moved in
Single adult males transferred from a closing London contingency hotel under a Clearsprings Ready Homes agreement for around 150 beds.
16 Feb 2023
Priory Church public meeting
Bedfordshire Police outside venue; a Patriotic Alternative activist addresses the room and is applauded by part of the audience.
Mar 2023
South London transfer resistance
Novara Media reports asylum seekers refusing transfer to Dunstable after anti-asylum leafleting and protest activity in the area.
2023
Headcount climbs to 132
Luton Today reports at least 80 of 132 residents stuck at the site for more than six months because of Home Office paperwork delays.
Jun 2024
Contract terminated
Home Office ends the Old Palace Lodge contract; residents moved out before the end of June 2024.
Sources
- Wedding day chaos for many as Dunstable's prestigious Old Palace Lodge closes for Government contract — Luton Today, Jan 2023
Luton Today reports the Old Palace Lodge in Dunstable closed to the public with immediate effect on 22 January 2023 after its owners accepted a Home Office contract, with the closure cancelling weddings and other functions booked at the four star Church Street site.
- Old Palace Lodge: Around 90 adult male asylum seekers placed at Dunstable hotel — but 'no issues' to date — Luton Today, Feb 2023
Luton Today reports around 90 single adult male asylum seekers were transferred to the Old Palace Lodge from another contingency hotel reaching the end of its contract, with a Clearsprings Ready Homes contract for around 150 beds of temporary accommodation in place between the hotel owners and the Home Office sub contractor.
- Old Palace Lodge: Dunstable hotel had refused Home Office plans before financial pressures forced it to accept 'with a heavy heart' — Luton Today, Feb 2023
Luton Today reports the Old Palace Lodge owners said they had previously refused Home Office plans to use the hotel for asylum accommodation before financial pressures forced them to accept the contract with a heavy heart, citing energy bills that had risen from £4,600 to almost £27,000 per month in 2022 alongside higher interest rates and post pandemic borrowing costs.
- Old Palace Lodge: Dunstable residents demand answers from MP after packed public meeting — Luton Today, Feb 2023
Luton Today reports a packed public meeting held in the Priory Church on 16 February 2023, chaired by Town Mayor Cllr Liz Jones with Andrew Selous MP, Old Palace Lodge representative ViV Vayssieres and Inspector Cray Burch of Bedfordshire Police on the panel, with Bedfordshire Police officers stationed outside to keep the meeting from being disrupted.
- 'far-right' activist applauded amid high tensions at Dunstable's Old Palace Lodge meeting — Luton Today, Feb 2023
Luton Today reports the public meeting on the Old Palace Lodge at the Priory Church on 16 February 2023 saw a Patriotic Alternative activist take the floor and receive applause from a section of the audience, with Bedfordshire Police outside the venue to maintain order during the event.
- Paperwork delays mean asylum seekers in Dunstable's Old Palace Lodge have been there more than six months — Luton Today, 2023
Luton Today reports at least 80 of 132 asylum seekers accommodated at the Old Palace Lodge had been at the site for more than six months because of Home Office paperwork delays, well beyond the short stay framing originally given for the Dunstable contingency hotel.
- Asylum seekers to leave Dunstable hotel after Home Office ends contract with Old Palace Lodge — Luton Today, 2024
Luton Today reports the Home Office terminated its contract with the Old Palace Lodge, confirming the four star Dunstable hotel would cease housing asylum seekers before the end of June 2024 with current residents moved to other parts of the asylum estate.
- Old Palace Lodge: Row continues over Dunstable hotel's Home Office contract — Bedfordshire Live, Feb 2023
Bedfordshire Live reports the Old Palace Lodge on Church Street in Dunstable closed unexpectedly on 22 January 2023 to take a Home Office asylum accommodation contract, with Central Bedfordshire Council and Dunstable Town Council criticising the lack of advance information about who would be placed there or what local support would be put in place.
- Old Palace Lodge: Council confirm more than 90 asylum seekers are living inside Dunstable hotel — Bedfordshire Live, Feb 2023
Bedfordshire Live reports Central Bedfordshire Council confirming more than 90 asylum seekers from Nigeria, Syria and Afghanistan were living inside the Old Palace Lodge in Dunstable, sourced from a longer Home Office contingency hotel transfer pipeline.
- Couple's wedding cancelled as Home Office uses Bedfordshire hotel to house refugees — ITV News Anglia, Jan 2023
ITV News Anglia reports a Bedfordshire couple whose wedding at the Old Palace Lodge in Dunstable was cancelled at short notice when the Home Office took the hotel for asylum accommodation in January 2023.
- Stop housing asylum seekers in hotels, says Bedfordshire MP Andrew Selous — ITV News Anglia, Feb 2023
ITV News Anglia reports South West Bedfordshire MP Andrew Selous calling for an end to the use of hotels for asylum accommodation in the wake of the Old Palace Lodge contract in Dunstable, citing the impact on the town and the failure of Home Office consultation.
- Asylum Seekers in South London Are Resisting Removal to a Bedfordshire Hotel Targeted by the far-right — Novara Media, Mar 2023
Novara Media reports asylum seekers in South London resisting Home Office removal to the Old Palace Lodge in Dunstable after Patriotic Alternative leaflets named the site and protests took place in the area, with residents reporting being followed and filmed when they ventured outside.
- Kingsbury Court Old Palace Lodge Hotel — Grade II listing entry 1114582 — Historic England, List entry
Historic England Grade II listing entry 1114582 for Kingsbury Court Old Palace Lodge Hotel on Church Street, Dunstable, recording the building's historic status and listed protection.
- Further clarification on the Old Palace Lodge — Andrew Selous MP (South West Bedfordshire), Jan 2023
Andrew Selous MP confirms the Home Office first approached him about the Old Palace Lodge on 15 December 2022, with the hotel identified as a site to accommodate asylum seekers under contingency arrangements, and that he had pressed the department on local consultation and the timing of the move.
- 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.
- 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.