The number of asylum seekers living in hotels at the taxpayers’ expense has jumped to more than 36,000, the highest level for nearly two years.

New data from the Home Office showed 36,273 migrants were in hotel accommodation at the end of September, up 4,232 from 32,041 at the end of June.

In all there were 111,651 people receiving taxpayer-funded asylum support, an increase of nearly 5,600 in three months but below the peak of just under 124,000 hit in September 2023.

The Home Office said a record 110,051 people claimed asylum in the UK in the year ending to September.

It was up 13 per cent on the previous year and 7 per cent more than the previous peak of 103,081 in 2002.

This made it a new record high after a previous figure of 111,000 for the year to June was revised down slightly.

Separate data from the Office for National Statistics showed a significant fall in net migration – the total number of migrants arriving to live long-term in the Uk minus those emigrating.

In the year to June net migration was 204,000, two-thirds lower than a year earlier when it stood at 649,000.

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Migrants cross the Channel from northern France aboard an overloaded dinghy earlier this year

The figure included a fall in long-term immigration levels to 898,000 in the year – the first time it has dipped below a million since 2021.

Total emigration – including Britons – was 693,000.

The Home Office data showed it made a record 133,500 initial decisions on asylum claims in the year to September.

Of those, 58,148 were granted refugee status or another type of leave to remain in Britain – a record high.

There were also more than 75,300 asylum claims rejected by the Home Office in the year, the highest number since the previous asylum crisis in 2001.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: ‘Net migration is at its lowest level in half a decade and has fallen by more than two-thirds under this government.

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Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, pictured on Wednesday, announced a series of proposed changes to the asylum system and legal migration last week

‘But we are going further because the pace and scale of migration has placed immense pressure on local communities.

‘Last week, I announced reforms to our migration system to ensure that those who come here must contribute and put in more than they take out.’

Dr Peter Walsh, senior researcher at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said: ‘While the government has managed to reduce the main asylum backlog significantly, today’s data show just how hard it is to relieve pressure on the asylum system when applications remain high, and the appeals backlog continues to grow.

‘Last week, the government proposed a series of changes to the asylum system, including plans to restrict asylum support to certain asylum seekers and reorganise the appeals system in the hope of receiving faster final decisions.

‘The impacts of these measures are very hard to predict, and in any case it will take some time for them to work their way through the system.’