Stevenage MP Kevin Bonavia has announced that the Novotel hotel at junction 7 of the A1(M) will no longer be used for asylum seekers after the end of the year.

Mr Bonavia, a Labour MP, said it is "good news for Stevenage" that the hotel will return to normal use.

The Novotel has been used by the Home Office for asylum seekers since September 2022, when a Conservative government was in charge.

Cllr Richard Henry, leader of Labour-run Stevenage Borough Council, also welcomed the news that it will no longer be used for asylum seekers.

"Stevenage Borough Council and the Labour group have been clear from the beginning that the use of local hotels for asylum accommodation was not a sustainable solution," he said.

"We raised our concerns because we knew that placing large numbers of people in an unsuitable hotel, without proper local planning and consultation, would put additional pressure on local services, affect our local economy and create difficulties for the people being accommodated there."

There were 217 asylum seekers in hotels in Stevenage at the end of June this year – the most recent date for which data is available – with the Ibis in the town centre also used to accommodate them.

Stevenage Borough Council last year warned Novotel that it must stop housing asylum seekers or face planning enforcement action.

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Planning officers at the authority believed the hotel's use for asylum seekers meant it was operating effectively as a hostel – and the building only has permission to operate as a hotel, not a hostel.

Mr Bonavia said today: "The most important point is that this isn't simply about moving people from one hotel to another. The reason hotels are closing is that the asylum system is being sorted from end to end."

Home Office statistics show that 40,168 people across the country were waiting for an initial asylum decision at the end of June, down 56% from June 2025.

The MP added: "People in Stevenage don't need more empty rhetoric, anger or misinformation – we need the problem actually solved.

"We can have an asylum system that is humane and treats people with dignity, while also being fair to taxpayers and local communities.

"People who genuinely need protection should get it, and people who have no right to remain should be returned."