Social media outcry as asylum seekers set to be housed in controversial Newhaven flats

The Express understands the Home Office is working with private contractor Clearsprings and the local authorities to house asylum seekers in Kendal Court, which saw ten residents die between 2016 to 2021.

A Home Office spokesperson would not be drawn into naming individual placements, but said: “The number of people arriving in the UK who seek asylum and require accommodation has reached record levels, placing unprecedented pressures on the system.

“Despite this, we provide those who are destitute with support whilst we consider their claim and we work hard with local authorities to find appropriate safe accommodation during this challenging time.

"We engage with local authorities as early as possible whenever sites are used for asylum accommodation and work to ensure arrangements are safe for residents and local people.”

In December 2021, Brighton and Hove City Council were accused of "dumping" vulnerable people in homeless accommodation in neighbouring towns, with particular concerns raised about the block in Railway Road.

The BBC found that hundreds of homeless people in Brighton had been sent to emergency housing outside the city, such as Kendal Court.

The city council stopped placing residents there in July this year, following threats of legal action from East Sussex County Council.

The county council accused the city council of acting “unlawfully” by failing to assess people’s care needs properly and not accepting responsibility for people placed at Kendal Court.

Council leader Keith Glazier described it in one council meeting as 'outsourcing people to die in somebody else's area."

The latest revelation has been widely discussed on social media, with one woman posting: “Kendal Court had to be shut down but they are looking into opening it to house asylum seekers while they are being processed.

"It is not fit to house vulnerable people. This isn’t a 4 star hotel.”

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East Sussex County Council were approached for a statement, but declined to comment on the story.

Lewes District Council also declined to make a statement but stressed it did not have any say in asylum seeker placements