Government grants planning approval for asylum accommodation at former Bicester military site

The government has given itself permission to house up to 1,256 asylum seekers on a former military site near the Oxfordshire village of Piddington. The approval covers MoD Bicester, and it came through an Urgent Crown Development application, a fast-track route that allowed the Home Office's own proposal to be decided centrally.

A government report on the decision recorded 3,177 representations against the plan and one in support. It said Housing Secretary Angela Rayner ruled that permission should be granted because national demand for asylum accommodation remains high. The permission allows existing buildings to be demolished, new modular accommodation to be built, and health and welfare facilities to be provided. The proposal is for men only.

Piddington has not taken it quietly. The village symbolically voted to leave the UK in protest at the plan, and campaigners have also mounted a legal challenge. Joe Marshall, a Piddington parish councillor, said residents were extremely frustrated. He argued that the government had approved its own application against more than 3,000 objections, overruling the councils, the NHS and the police and crime commissioner. Of the vote to leave, he said, "No wonder we voted to leave the UK." Speaking to BBC Newsnight, he said nobody would want such a development imposed on their area, and when asked whether he felt he lived in a democracy, he answered: "No, not at all."

Political reaction split along familiar lines. Calum Miller, the Liberal Democrat MP for Bicester and Woodstock, called it the wrong plan and the wrong site for local communities, asylum seekers and taxpayers. He said he was deeply disappointed that it had been approved despite concerns from residents and local councils and major problems with the site. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused Labour of betraying Piddington by abusing emergency powers, and said the government should leave the ECHR so that people could be rapidly deported. Reform UK's home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf described over 1,200 unvetted illegal migrant men as being dumped in Piddington, and said Reform would detain and deport them.

The Home Office is careful about what the permission means. A spokesperson said it allows the department to continue progressing the use of MoD Bicester, but that a final decision to proceed has not yet been taken. The department says it is working toward a fairer distribution of asylum accommodation across the country, and claims savings of more than £1 billion since the election. It says the aim includes closing all asylum hotels and moving people to alternatives such as former military sites, which it describes as self-contained, with 24/7 security and CCTV to limit the impact on nearby communities.

The wider context is the government's duty to house asylum seekers who cannot support themselves while their claims are considered. Labour has pledged to end the use of hotels by 2029. Hotels are costly and have become a focal point for anti-migrant protests in parts of the country, so ministers are seeking large alternative sites, including former military bases. Home Office data shows asylum applications fell 21% in the year to June 2026, to 85,891.

The next step is legal. The approval can be challenged in the High Court within six weeks, starting the day after the decision. The government says any challenge may be brought only on the ground that the decision is legally flawed, and is not a chance to reopen the planning merits. Whether the campaigners' existing legal action, or a fresh one, finds such a flaw will shape what happens at Bicester.