The Lancashire town on the front line of Reform’s next asylum battle

Neighbours told The i Paper there are stud walls that divide the front room, kitchen and upstairs so that somehow it contains six separate bedrooms.

It seems inconceivable in a home that measures only 925 sq ft in total, according to the listing which was posted online before it was bought for £110,000 in 2023.

This is now a house of multiple occupation (HMO), a sector of the market which has exploded in popularity in recent years in the UK, but is becoming increasingly politically toxic.

‘No to HMOs’ a key message in local elections

This property in Chorley is managed by Serco, the multinational company which holds the contract for providing accommodation to asylum seekers in the North West, among other places.

The i Paper is not identifying the exact location of the property for security reasons.

Last month, an alleged HMO housing asylum seekers in Epsom, Surrey, was attacked during protests sparked by reports a woman had been gang-raped which turned out not to be true.

Far-right leader Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, shared footage of hooded individuals throwing eggs at the property, claiming it showed “Epsom locals” destroying a “suspected HMO used for housing unvetted fighting-age invaders at the taxpayers’ expense”.

The alleged link between HMOs and asylum seekers first began gaining traction on social media in 2024 when a focus on asylum accommodation led to attacks on hotels during rioting that summer.

But, in the past 12 months, the issue has been taken up by mainstream political parties and is now a hot topic in many areas in the run-up to this week’s local elections.

While Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has vowed to shut down all migrant hotels, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage’s response is to claim that asylum seekers will be moved into HMOs instead.

In Chorley, where the borough council is controlled by Labour, Reform candidate Mark Wade claimed Lancashire has had “more illegal immigrants dumped on it than anywhere else in the country” and that his party would make efforts to clamp down on HMOs if elected.

He also said the “root cause” of the increase in HMOs is that there are “too many people who are in this country who shouldn’t be here” and that a programme of “mass deportation” under a Reform government would solve it.

Labour has done little to counter such language, with local councillors also expressing “concern” about HMOs and claiming that the town is “inundated”. The council brought in an Article 4 directive which requires increased planning consents for HMOs last September.

The Home Office says it is “scaling up the use of large, basic accommodation sites” such as military barracks for asylum seekers leaving hotels, but with more than 100,000 people having claimed asylum in the UK last year, many are likely to need alternatives.

‘These houses are too small for six people’

The Government contract for providing asylum accommodation was awarded to three private companies – Serco, Mears Group and Clearsprings – and is expected to be worth £15.3bn over 10 years.

For private landlords it is an attractive proposition – the firms will take care of all repairs and maintenance and provide guaranteed income for several years.

But, at the property visited by The i Paper neighbours had no idea Serco was involved and were shocked to learn it has been divided into six bedrooms.

“It’s concerning,” one woman said, who asked not to be named. “These are small houses. They are too small for six people.

“We don’t hear them, they are good neighbours. You don’t know people’s circumstances, if you are an asylum seeker it doesn’t make you any less of a person.

“But if were to try and sell our property, if people realise it’s an HMO next door that will be an issue.”

Government guidance states that rooms in HMOs need not be any bigger than 70 sq ft, smaller than many prison cells.

Serco said all its HMOs “meet mandatory council standards, ensuring they are safe and fit to live in”.

HMOs for professionals ‘face backlash immediately’

Caught in the middle of the HMO debate are Paul Preston and Sylwester Noga, co-founders of the Chorley-based property business Bare Capital.

They have built and managed several large HMOs in Chorley but do not offer them to asylum seekers.

One of their most recent projects was the conversion of a derelict office in the town centre into what they describe as a “luxury, professional living space”.

Bedrooms come fully furnished and cost as little as £650 per month with bills included.

Chorley is close to employers such as BAE Systems and is only a 40-minute train journey into Manchester city centre. Preston and Noga say all their HMO tenants are working professionals including teachers, engineers and NHS staff.

“My brother lives in one of our HMOs,” says Noga.

And yet – when Bare Capital have submitted planning applications to Chorley Council, they have found themselves the victims of misinformation and abuse.

“It’ll get published [online], it tends to be by people with a political affiliation, and there’s a backlash immediately,” Preston told The i Paper.

The pair say they have tried to engage with local media, Facebook pages and councillors to alter perceptions, but the negativity tends to stick.

“As soon as it’s out there that ‘this is going to be a migrant hotel’ it’s difficult to shake that,” Preston added.

The atmosphere around HMOs in Chorley, as in many other towns and cities, is becoming hostile.

Preston said he has had far-right TikTokers filming outside his buildings and one left stickers publicising a Tommy Robinson rally.

“No to HMOs” graffitti was spray-painted on a pub following publicity around a planning application.

‘Nobody believes the council’

Wade, a Reform county councillor and candidate for Chorley borough, concedes it is “unfair” for all HMOs to be “tarred with the same brush”.

But he argued this is the consequence of the lack of trust in Government at both local and national level.

“There are genuine cases, there are women’s refuges, there’s student accommodation, that’s important, but nobody trusts the council,” Wade said.

“When the council says, ‘this is not for illegal immigrants’, nobody believes them, that’s the problem why they all get objected to.”

With only a third of the seats in Chorley up for grabs in May, Reform can’t take control from Labour.

But Wade said his party aims to be “influential”, taking positions in relevant committees to HMOs such as planning.

Asked whether he would tell the public if a proposed HMO had nothing to do with asylum seekers, he said: “Of course we have an obligation to tell the truth, but it’s finding out what the truth is.”

While Wade accepts there is misinformation around HMOs, he claims it is the fault of “both sides” and that Reform should not be held responsible.

“There’s never nuance in political messages, it’s almost impossible,” he added.

“If you lived in a house with young children, especially young girls, would you want a house full of undocumented men next door?

“It’s nothing to do with the national messaging, it’s to do with that happening, it’s to do with 25 per cent of sexual crimes in this country that are committed by illegal immigrants.”

Wade was likely referencing research into the number of sexual offences carried out by non-British nationals published by the right-leaning think-tank, the Centre for Migration Control, which has been widely cited by Reform politicians, but is disputed by other experts.

Wade insisted that the figures are “not made up”, adding: “You wouldn’t want them next to your children, I wouldn’t want them next to mine.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “This Government is removing the incentives drawing illegal migrants to Britain and ramping up removals of those with no right to be here.

“That is why we are closing every asylum hotel and moving asylum seekers into basic accommodation including ex-military sites.”

A Serco spokesperson said: “Serco works under the direction of the Home Office who tell us the number of people they expect to house in local authority areas.

“We consult the relevant local authority on the suitability of a rental property, giving it the chance to flag concerns. All our HMOs meet mandatory council standards, ensuring they are safe and fit to live in.”

HMOs in Chorley rise as asylum numbers spike

The number of planning applications for HMOs has increased in Chorley significantly in recent years.

Between 2016 and 2023, there were no more than two a year, according to the council’s planning website.

But between 2024 and 2026 there have been 17 applications for either new HMOs, or retrospective applications for those that already exist as a result of the Article 4 directive which was passed.

Home Office data also shows the number of asylum seekers living in “dispersal accommodation” in Chorley, which usually means flats or houses such as HMOs, has increased.

In December 2017, there were only 34 asylum seekers living in the borough, according to Home Office data.

That has now increased to 229 people in December 2025, of which 225 are being housed in dispersal accommodation.

In the UK as a whole, there were 107,003 asylum seekers in the wider system as of December 2025. Of those, 69,409 were living in dispersal accommodation, most likely to be HMOs.