RAF Scampton: Cancelled Asylum Site Profile
The plan to house up to 2,000 unaccompanied adult male asylum seekers at the former RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire was announced in March 2023 and cancelled in September 2024 without a single resident ever being moved in. The National Audit Office's March 2024 report put the Home Office's estimate of set-up costs at the site at £27 million[2]NAO. The Home Affairs Committee reported in October 2025 that, after cancelling the plan as not value for money, the Home Office lost £48.5 million that had been invested in the site[3]GOV.UK. The site is now returning to the heritage and regeneration plans it was diverted from.
Reported loss
£48,500,000
Reported loss: £48,500,000
Breakdown
The Home Affairs Committee reported that the Home Office lost £48.5 million that had been invested in RAF Scampton after cancelling the site in September 2024 as not value for money, citing the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25 (p.189). The NAO's March 2024 estimate of set-up costs at Scampton was £27 million. No breakdown of the £48.5 million has been published.
- Lost on the site (Home Office accounts 2024-25, via the Home Affairs Committee)£48,500,000
- Total£48,500,000
This is the figure the cited source gives for money paid or lost on a site that never housed anyone. It is not calculated from a nightly rate.
Key Facts
Background
RAF Scampton was home to 617 Squadron, the “Dambusters”, during the Second World War and remained an operational Royal Air Force station until it was decommissioned in 2022. Before the Home Office proposal, the site had been earmarked for a £300 million heritage-led redevelopment by Scampton Holdings Ltd, including a heritage centre, museum, and business park.
In March 2023 the Home Office announced plans to repurpose Scampton as one of the main sites in its new large-scale asylum accommodation programme, with capacity rising over time to up to 2,000 unaccompanied adult men. That figure, against the adjacent village of Scampton's population of around 600, provoked immediate local, political and legal opposition.
Opposition and Judicial Review
West Lindsey District Council launched a judicial review of the Home Office's decision, supported by Sir Edward Leigh (Conservative MP for Gainsborough), parish councils, residents, and Scampton Holdings Ltd, who argued the asylum plan cut across their existing heritage-led redevelopment agreement for the site.
The legal process delayed any meaningful move-in of residents. Throughout 2023 and into 2024, preparatory works continued, including fencing, portacabins, contractor mobilisation and site security, while the Home Office defended the plan in court and in parliament.
Cost
The NAO's March 2024 investigation reported that set-up costs at RAF Scampton had increased to £27 million[2]NAO. That is the Home Office's estimate of set-up costs, not a total of money spent. The NAO concluded that the Home Office's large-sites programme would cost more than hotels and deliver fewer places than originally planned[1]NAO.
The published loss is larger. The Home Affairs Committee's report of 27 October 2025 says that in September 2024 the Home Office cancelled plans for an asylum accommodation site at RAF Scampton after concluding that the site was not value for money, and that it lost £48.5 million that had been invested in the site, citing the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25[3]GOV.UK. No split of the £48.5 million has been published.
Cost in context
Scampton reported loss
£48,500,000
Home Office accounts
Scampton set-up estimate
£27,000,000
NAO, March 2024
Cancellation, September 2024
Following the July 2024 general election, the new Labour government formally cancelled the Scampton asylum plan in September 2024. The BBC reported the decision as ending eighteen months of controversy without a single asylum seeker ever having moved in, with the site now expected to return to the heritage and regeneration scheme originally planned for it[4]. The House of Commons Library's overview of the large-sites programme records Scampton alongside Linton-on-Ouse and Northeye as sites that absorbed public money but never opened[5].
How the Cost Figure Works
The £48.5 million shown in the callout above is the loss the Home Office reported on the site, as cited by the Home Affairs Committee[3]GOV.UK. It is a published figure, not our estimate, and it is not calculated from a nightly rate. The NAO's £27 million, which earlier versions of this page used as the cost, was an estimate of set-up costs made in March 2024, before the cancellation; the two are different measures and are not added together.
Timeline
Timeline
March 2023
Asylum plan announced
Home Office announces plans for up to 2,000 unaccompanied adult men at the former RAF base.
2023 to 2024
Judicial review and preparatory works
West Lindsey District Council and Scampton Holdings Ltd mount legal challenges; fencing, portacabins, contractor mobilisation continue.
March 2024
NAO reports a £27m set-up cost estimate
The National Audit Office investigation reports the Home Office's estimate of set-up costs at Scampton has increased to £27m.
September 2024
Plan cancelled
New Labour government cancels the Scampton asylum plan. No asylum seekers were ever moved in.
27 Oct 2025
Home Affairs Committee reports £48.5m lost
The Committee reports that the Home Office lost £48.5m invested in the site, citing the Home Office accounts for 2024-25.
Sources
- Alternative asylum accommodation will cost more than hotels · National Audit Office, Mar 2024
NAO finding that the Home Office expects to spend £1.2 billion on its large-sites programme and had already spent at least £230 million by March 2024 developing four large sites (Bibby Stockholm, RAF Scampton, RAF Wethersfield and former student accommodation in Huddersfield); concludes large-scale sites will cost more than hotels and deliver fewer places than planned.
- Investigation into asylum accommodation (HC 635) · National Audit Office, 20 Mar 2024
NAO report HC 635 of 20 March 2024. Its Figure 6 (table values, projections from Home Office cost trackers of January 2024) puts Wethersfield at £338.7 million for 2023-24 to 2026-27: £105.1 million for site acquisition, lease and set-up, all of it in 2023-24; running costs of £176.0 million (£26.7 million in 2023-24, then £49.8 million in each of the next three years); and other costs of £57.6 million (£13.9 million in 2023-24, £16.7 million in 2024-25 and £13.5 million in each of 2025-26 and 2026-27). The yearly totals are £145.7 million, £66.5 million, then £63.3 million in each of 2025-26 and 2026-27. Note 4 says that for Scampton and Wethersfield the category also includes the transfer price for the sites and lease costs arising before the transfer. The report says set-up costs have since increased to £49 million for Wethersfield and £27 million for Scampton, and (paragraph 3.3) that the Home Office declared fruitless payments of £2.9 million preparing the former RAF base at Linton-on-Ouse. Figure 6 note 7 gives £2.9 million at Linton-on-Ouse and £0.5 million on vessels as spend on projects that did not go ahead.
- The Home Office's management of asylum accommodation · House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, 27 Oct 2025
Home Affairs Committee report HC 580 of 27 October 2025. Paragraph 25 says the Home Office estimates that Wethersfield is now less costly to run per person per night than hotels (£132, compared with £144.98), citing the minister's letter of 8 October 2025; the exclusion of £105 million set-up costs from that comparison is the Committee's own understanding, not the minister's wording. Paragraph 39 says that in September 2024 the Home Office cancelled plans for an asylum accommodation site at RAF Scampton after concluding that it was not value for money, and lost £48.5 million that had been invested in the site (citing the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25, p.189), and that in September 2023 it spent £15.4 million on the purchase of the Northeye Estate in Bexhill. Paragraph 81 says Wethersfield can usually accommodate up to 800 people and that the Home Office had temporarily increased its capacity to 1,245.
- Home Office will not use RAF Scampton for asylum accommodation · GOV.UK Home Office, Sep 2024
BBC report confirming the September 2024 cancellation of the RAF Scampton asylum accommodation plan by the incoming Labour government, after costs spiralled and no asylum seekers had been moved in.
- Asylum accommodation: hotels, vessels and large-scale sites · House of Commons Library, 2025
Parliamentary research briefing surveying the UK asylum accommodation estate including hotels, accommodation vessels such as the Bibby Stockholm, and large-scale sites on surplus government or ex-military land.