Britain spending one-fifth of entire aid budget housing asylum seekers as 'serious risk' exposed

Britain is spending one-fifth of its entire aid budget on housing migrants and asylum seekers, a new report has revealed.

Research carried out by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) said this money, which is meant to be going overseas, poses a “serious risk to value for money”.

In 2024, £ 2.8billion was spent on housing migrants and asylum seekers – £1 billion more than the UK spent on humanitarian aid.

However, Sir Keir Starmer announced in February 2025 that aid spending would fall to 0.3 per cent on gross domestic product (GDP), down from 0.5 to bump up defence coffers.

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The report revealed that setting a figure for aid spend as a percentage of GDP and including asylum costs within this figure “undermined value for money”.

Referred to as “in-donor refugee costs”, the report shows that spending on those fleeing their home countries reached 28 per cent of the entire UK aid budget in 2023.

As these costs fall under official development assistance spend (aid), increases in asylum spending means less money for overseas aid programmes.

Unlike overseas development projects, which generally are planned government policies, asylum support costs depend on how many people arrive in the UK, the ICAI says.

This means the UK aid budget can be significantly reshaped by migration pressures, rather than development priorities.

Foreign aid spending has been muddied with allegations of fraud and inefficiency for a long time.

There have also been claims that foreign aid spending supports hostile groups overseas.

The report also reveals that the UK’s spending on housing asylum seekers is “double or triple” that of other comparable nations and is the highest cost per head.

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