Southcliff Hotel, Folkestone
The Southcliff Hotel sits on The Leas in Folkestone, the long clifftop promenade above the Channel. It was bought by Home Office accommodation contractor Serco for use as asylum accommodation, then included on the 24 October 2023 list of fifty asylum hotels the government announced it would exit, with use ending by the end of November 2023[1]Press[2]Press.
Capacity
90
rooms (approx.)
Per night
£170
per resident
Annual
£5.6m
estimated
Background
The Southcliff is a Victorian clifftop hotel on The Leas in Folkestone, looking out across the English Channel. It is one of several Folkestone seafront hotels that have been block-booked by the Home Office at different points since 2020, alongside the larger Grand Burstin Hotel on the harbour[3]GOV.UK.
Serco purchase
Kent News reported that asylum accommodation contractor Serco bought the Southcliff outright for use as Home Office migrant accommodation, rather than block-booking it on a commercial contract. The transition involved displacing existing commercial bookings and changing the way the hotel was staffed and operated[1]Press.
Closure on the October 2023 hotel-exit list
On 24 October 2023 the government announced it would end the use of fifty asylum hotels across the UK. The Southcliff was on that list, and Local Rags reported that the contract was terminated and use ceased by the end of November 2023, with residents moved to other parts of the Home Office asylum estate[2]Press[3]GOV.UK.
Cost analysis
At the £170 per person per night Migration Observatory benchmark[4], a hotel run at around 90 occupants implies headline taxpayer exposure of about £15,300 per night and roughly £5.6 million per year. The May 2025 NAO contract review put the average per hotel run rate across the wider portfolio at about £5.84 million per year[5]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
Southcliff Hotel
£170
benchmark
UK asylum hotel avg
£170
NAO
Folkestone budget hotel
£70
commercial
Hostel bed
£30
commercial
Timeline
Timeline
Pre-2022
Operates as a commercial seafront hotel on The Leas, Folkestone
2022
Bought by Serco
Home Office accommodation contractor Serco purchases the hotel for use as asylum accommodation.
24 Oct 2023
Named on hotel-exit list
Government announces it will end the use of fifty asylum hotels across the UK, including the Southcliff.
Nov 2023
Closure
Contract terminated and asylum use ceased by end of November 2023; residents moved elsewhere in the asylum estate.
Sources
- Southcliff Hotel In Folkestone Sold For Migrant Accommodation — Kent News, 2023
Kent News confirms Serco bought The Southcliff Hotel in Folkestone for use as Home Office contracted asylum accommodation.
- Government axe Folkestone hotel from list of asylum accommodation — Local Rags, Oct 2023
Local Rags reports the Home Office added the Southcliff in Folkestone to the 24 October 2023 list of fifty asylum hotels being closed, with use ending by end of November 2023.
- Update on asylum seekers staying in Folkestone — Damian Collins MP, 2023
Folkestone and Hythe MP Damian Collins confirms the Southcliff Hotel was used as Home Office asylum accommodation and that the contract was ended in late 2023 with residents moved to other parts of the asylum estate.
- 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.