Asylum seekers to move out of apartment block

An apartment block will no longer be used as accommodation for asylum seekers, an MP has announced.

Aldershot MP Alex Baker confirmed the Home Office would not renew its lease on the apartments at Pinehurst Hill Side in Farnborough, Hampshire.

She said the district of Rushmoor "always will be a welcoming community", but the scheme was "poorly thought through and not a prudent use of public money".

The Home Office confirmed asylum seekers currently staying at Pinehurst Hillside would be moved out over the coming weeks, and said there were plans to provide them with the support they needed elsewhere.

There were previously protests over the use of the flats.

Residents said there had been no consultation on the use, and housing asylum seekers would put more strain on already-stretched local services.

The Labour MP added that the plan was "unlike any other asylum accommodation in the country".

"It used newly-built flats in the heart of the town centre, which I know many residents were aspiring to live in," she said.

"It should never have happened."

The Home Office previously said it had a duty to provide safe and secure housing, and that Pinehurst would house "otherwise destitute families and single adult females" while they awaited their final asylum decisions.

Baker said the lease would be terminated by the end of the year, and that she would work with Rushmoor Council to discuss future use of the flats with the developers.

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