TLK Apartments, St Mary Cray
The TLK Apartments & Hotel building at 36-50 High Street in St Mary Cray (BR5 3NJ), in the London Borough of Bromley, has been used for two years as a Central Government funded asylum hostel for children, women and families, according to a Bromley Council statement published in August 2025[1]Council. On 25 June 2026 the Home Office listed TLK Apartments among 20 asylum hotels that had closed, and the building has since reopened to the public[4]Press[5]Press.
No resident or room number has been published for this site, so no headline figures are shown.
Background
The TLK Apartments & Hotel building, at 36-50 High Street in St Mary Cray (Orpington), Bromley, has long operated as a serviced apartment hotel under TLK Serviced Apartments Limited. Since 2023 the building has been used as a Central Government funded asylum hostel rather than as a publicly bookable hotel.
Bromley Council statement
Bromley Council's August 2025 statement confirms the hostel has been in situ at the TLK building for two years and is currently occupied by children, women and families only in temporary accommodation, awaiting a decision from the Government concerning their future immigration status. The council also stated that there are no current police investigations under way concerning residents, contrary to other reports circulating online[1]Council.
News Shopper / This Is Local London covered the council statement, framing it as a denial of false online rumours about the demographics of the hostel[2]Press.
Summer 2025 protests
The Canary reported a counter mobilisation in Bromley against a Great British National Protest demonstration outside TLK Apartments in Orpington on 22 August 2025, framing the event within the wider summer 2025 wave of anti asylum hotel protests[3]Press.
Cost analysis
No resident number has been published for this site, so no nightly or annual cost is estimated here. The Migration Observatory benchmark is £170 per person per night[6], and the May 2025 NAO contract review put the average hotel at about £5.84 million per year[7]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
TLK Apartments (while in use)
£170
benchmark
UK asylum hotel avg
£170
NAO
South London budget hotel
£80
commercial
Hostel bed
£30
commercial
Timeline
Timeline
Pre-2023
Operates as the TLK Apartments & Hotel commercial aparthotel
2023
Building used as Central Government asylum hostel
TLK Serviced Apartments building converted to a Home Office funded hostel for children, women and families.
Aug 2025
Bromley Council statement
Council statement confirms the demographics and rejects social media rumours of single young men residents.
22 Aug 2025
Counter mobilisation in Orpington
Counter protest organised against a Great British National Protest demonstration outside the TLK building.
25 Jun 2026
Named among 20 hotels closed
The Home Office lists TLK Apartments, Bromley among 20 asylum hotels that have closed.
Jul 2026
Reopens to the public
Bromley Council welcomes the end of asylum use, and KentOnline reports the building has reopened to the public.
Sources
- A statement regarding the TLK building in St Mary Cray · London Borough of Bromley, Aug 2025
London Borough of Bromley official statement confirming the TLK building in St Mary Cray High Street has been used for two years as a Central Government funded asylum hostel, currently occupied by children, women and families only in temporary accommodation while immigration claims are processed.
- TLK building St Mary Cray: Bromley Council denies online rumours · News Shopper / This Is Local London, Aug 2025
News Shopper reports Bromley Council denying false online rumours about the TLK migrant hostel in St Mary Cray, confirming the residents are families, women and children rather than the single young men claimed on social media, and that no police investigations are under way concerning residents.
- Bromley to come out once more against the fascist far-right · The Canary, Aug 2025
The Canary reports counter mobilisation in Bromley against a Great British National Protest demonstration outside TLK Apartments in Orpington on 22 August 2025, framing it within the wider summer 2025 wave of anti asylum hotel protests.
- More military barracks to house asylum seekers after Home Office shuts more than 20 hotels · The Independent (Flora Thompson), via AOL, 25 Jun 2026
Gives the full list of 20 hotels the Home Office said on 25 June 2026 had closed to asylum seekers: Dayz Away Lodge, Dudley; Holiday Inn Ashford Central; Best Western Atlantic, Chelmsford; The Cisswood, Horsham; The Collection Hotel, Birmingham; Adagio, Leicester; Norwich Hotel, Norwich; Allerton Court, Northallerton; Mercure George, Reading; TLK Apartments, Bromley; Best Western Stoke; The Granby (1 The Hill), Gravesham; Hampton by Hilton, Bristol; Delta Hotel Cheshunt; Episode Leamington; Oxford Witney Hotel; Sharnbrook (listed as "Shambrook"), Bedford; the Bell hotel, Epping; OYO Evesham hotel; and Best Western, Wembley.
- Home Office stops using TLK Apartments in St Mary Cray, Bromley, to house asylum seekers · KentOnline, 1 Jul 2026
TLK Apartments in St Mary Cray, the only asylum hotel in Bromley, has stopped being used by the Home Office and has reopened to the public. Bromley Council welcomes the cessation and says none of the residents are being rehoused through its housing register.
- 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.