The UK Home Office is reportedly in a "desperate scramble" to find new migrant accommodation across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. More than 4,500 people have crossed

the English Channel in small boats this year, leading to concerns about the lack of suitable housing options. The UK government has previously announced plans to create new migrant accommodation on a barge in Dorset, surplus military sites in Lincolnshire and Essex, and an old prison in East Sussex. But officials are now scouring a list of disused crown properties to find further housing for at least 25,000 migrants, according to The Times.

One internal government portal that is reportedly being searched for places to house families with young children includes St George's Barracks near the Rutland village of North Luffenham. The site could potentially house about 2,200 people. A former military site in Feltham, west London, could provide accommodation for 800 people, while the disused Forthside Barracks in Stirling could host 350 people. Additionally, the Kinnegar Logistics Base in County Down could accommodate 500 people.

The government is also said to be considering the use of cheap modular units to accommodate migrants. Hull-based company Payman Holdings is reportedly in line to build these units. The units could be installed in the north Wales village of Northop Hall to house about 250 migrants, which would increase the village's population by a third.

The government's previous use of hotels to accommodate migrants has been criticised, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stating that it "can't be right" that the UK is spending £6m a day on the practice. Sunak has vowed to end the housing of more than 51,000 asylum seekers in hotels. The Home Office's search for new accommodation has been described as a "desperate scramble" due to the high backlog in asylum cases.

The move comes amid ongoing controversy over the UK's treatment of migrants and refugees. In March, a report by the parliamentary home affairs committee found that the UK's immigration detention system is "expensive, ineffective and unjust". The committee called for the immediate closure of two immigration detention centres, while calling for a time limit on detention.

The report followed a decision by the Home Office to resume deportation flights to Jamaica in February, despite concerns over the legal status of some of those being deported. A high court ruling later halted a second scheduled flight, while another deportation flight was cancelled in March after lawyers claimed that detainees had been prevented from accessing legal advice.

The issue of migrant accommodation is also a contentious one. In 2019, it emerged that residents in Birmingham had protested against the conversion of a former hostel into accommodation for asylum seekers. The government had previously pledged to give local authorities more control over housing allocations for refugees, but critics claimed that the government was failing to support communities that were taking in large numbers of refugees. Photo by Steve Cadman, Wikimedia commons.