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Mears, one of the United Kingdom’s largest providers of accommodation for asylum seekers, has returned nearly £14 million to the Home Office after it was found to have exceeded the profit limits set within its contracts. The company operates across several regions, including Scotland, the north of England, and Northern Ireland, where it reported its highest profit margins. Despite its financial success, numerous complaints have surfaced from families and individuals who resided in Mears-managed properties in Northern Ireland, highlighting concerns about the quality of their living conditions.
The Home Office compensates Mears based on the number of asylum seekers it accommodates, providing necessary services such as food and shelter. However, profits on these contracts are capped at approximately 6%. Despite this, Mears’ overall profit across the UK surpassed this threshold by £13.8 million, with Northern Ireland showing the steepest increase—profit margins reached up to 17%. This was partly attributed to the fact that, unlike in other parts of the UK, asylum seekers in Northern Ireland are not dispersed among multiple local authorities, which lowers transport and administrative expenses. The company has announced plans to phase out the use of hotels for asylum accommodation, with around 246 individuals currently housed in such facilities in Northern Ireland.
Former residents have spoken out, alleging that Mears boosted profits by cutting back on essentials such as adequate food, heating, and sanitation. One father, identified only as Ali, shared how his children’s health severely deteriorated while living in a hotel run by Mears. His two children, both suffering from spinal muscular atrophy, arrived at the accommodation able to walk but left unable to do so. He described the unsuitable facilities and inadequate food provision, saying, “This profit that they make and this money that they save, it was at their expense…They used us to make this money, and they affected my children’s health.”
Another resident, known as Noor, described the unclean conditions of a Belfast hotel where her wheelchair-bound teenage daughter, with complex dietary needs, suffered a rapid health decline due to malnutrition. Despite medical advice to relocate her daughter to a place with proper cooking facilities, Noor said Mears frequently failed to supply sufficient or appropriate groceries. Noor recalled an agonizing period when she was “begging them for eggs and milk” for her daughter, who ultimately ended up in intensive care with aggravated pre-existing conditions. Mears has responded by stating that they make every reasonable adjustment to support families with disabilities, assert that their menus meet NHS nutritional standards, and emphasize that accommodation is regularly inspected by the Home Office. However, they also indicated that certain delays in health assessments lie with other public bodies and rejected claims that they neglected requests for specific food items.
A recent Home Affairs Committee report criticized the overall system for asylum accommodation, highlighting “flawed contracts” and “incompetent delivery.” The report pointed out that hotels have become the default solution, increasing profits for providers like Mears, whose contract values are now expected to surge from £4.5 billion to £15.3 billion between 2019 and 2029. With contracts estimated at £2.5 billion for Mears nationally—including £400 million in Northern Ireland—the report emphasized that the £13.8 million excess profit should be reinvested in public services rather than accumulating in private company accounts. Mears maintains it operates transparently with the Home Office and has repaid the over-earnings after an independent audit
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