Asylum claims each cost the taxpayer £18.7k, according to latest Home Office figures
Home Office papers also revealed that 76 per cent of those who claimed asylum under the 'right to family and private life' are unemployed
Each asylum application costs the taxpayer £18,700, according to startling new Home Office figures.
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The bill incurred by each asylum claim includes the cost of providing accommodation, covering living expenses and processing claims and legal appeals.
The definition includes those arriving on small boats from the Channel who are housed in migrant hotels and less expensive claimants such as those who arrived on student visas and later claimed asylum.
The latest figure, published by the Home Office on Tuesday in background papers to the new Immigration and Asylum Bill, covers the period from July 2024 to June 2025.
It would put the cost to the taxpayer of dealing with the 93,525 asylum applications lodged in the year to March 2026 at £1.7 billion.
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An impact assessment published on Tuesday alongside the forthcoming Bill also revealed that 76 per cent of those who claimed asylum under the 'right to family and private life' are unemployed.
The official documents said two thirds of claims made under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights were by applicants who were unemployed.
Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, is seeking to clamp down on asylum claims by limiting the application of Article 8 so it is only defined as an immediate family member, such as a parent, spouse or child under 18.
Foreign nationals would be required to live with their spouse, partner or child if claiming asylum in order to be with them.
However, the papers warn that her interventions are unlikely to yield much success, because of the limited capacity of immigration officials to remove those who have been refused asylum - and that it may actually lead to even more claims.
"'An increase in refused Article 8 ECHR claims is likely to lead to an increase in the number of migrants that require Immigration Enforcement involvement to exit the UK, with includes both voluntary and enforced removals.
"The capacity for enforced removals is fixed, so it is difficult to say whether there will be an overall increase in enforced removals.
"However, in 2022, only five per cent of family and private life refusals that had Immigration Enforcement involvement were enforced returns.
"To note, increasing the number of refusals may also increase the number of people claiming asylum."
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said prior attempts to reform Article 8 had not worked, and that the only way to end illegal immigration was to "pull out of the ECHR and modern slavery treaty entirely".
LBC has approached the Home Office for comment.