A council leader says he wants a hotel used to house asylum seekers to be restored to “its former glory”.
The Royal Hotel on Ferensway was used by the Home Office to house asylum seekers for more than six years, but Hull City Council confirmed on Tuesday that everyone had been moved out of the hotel.
“This was once a grand hotel used in the city for visitors for many years,” council leader Mike Ross said. “It would be a shame if that wasn’t able to be the case again for this hotel.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The concerns of communities are central to our immigration reforms. That is why we are closing every asylum hotel and moving asylum seekers into alternative accommodation.”
Ross said: “For the council, it’s always been clear that this was the wrong use of this building and unfortunately it’s been under this use for a number of years now.”
He added: “The council has been clear that it wanted the Home Office to cease the use of the hotel for this accommodation.”
Ross said the Home Office’s decision was “a good moment for the city and it’s one that we’ve long called for”.