Hundreds of asylum seekers could be housed in two military sites in Inverness and East Sussex as the government aims to end the use of hotels.
Discussions are under way over the use of the sites to accommodate 900 men, as first reported in the Times.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has instructed Home Office and Ministry of Defence officials to accelerate work to locate appropriate military sites, the BBC understands.
The government has pledged to end the use of asylum hotels, which have cost billions of pounds and become a focal point for anti-migrant protests, by the next election.
Migrants are due to be housed in the Cameron Barracks in Inverness and Crowborough army training camp in East Sussex by the end of next month, under plans being drawn up by ministers.
Defence Minister Luke Pollard told BBC Breakfast that the sites were not “luxury accommodation by any means,” but “adequate for what is required”.
“That will enable us to take the pressure off the asylum hotel estate and enable those to be closed at a faster rate,” he said.
Pressed on whether military sites would be cheaper for the government than hotels, Pollard said the cost was currently being assessed and that “it depends on the base”.
He said: “But I think there’s something that is of greater significance that we’ve seen over the past few months, and that is the absolute public appetite to see every asylum hotel closed.”
Pollard would not be drawn on how many asylum seekers were to be moved or when that would happen.
He said there would have to be sufficient engagement with local authorities and adequate security arrangements in place. “Those conversations have been going on for some time now,” he added.
Inverness’s Liberal Democrat MP Angus MacDonald told the BBC he supported the use of military sites to house asylum seekers, but that the chosen base seemed “a bit odd” given it is in the town centre.
“It’s effectively the same,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, adding that to his knowledge it was an open barracks without security.
“I very much thought the idea of putting them in army camps was to have them out of town, and make them less of an issue for the local population.”
He said he had first been given a “tip-off” about the use of Cameron Barracks about a month ago by someone in the army, when its occupants had been given notice to leave, and recently learned the plan was to house 300 asylum seekers there.
MacDonald added that Scotland did not have a “great track record” of migrants staying put there – and that the Home Office would need to consider whether they would “just up sticks and leave”.
Ministers are also considering industrial sites, temporary accommodation and otherwise disused accommodation to house asylum seekers.
Government sources told the BBC that all sites would comply with health and safety standards.
A Home Office spokesperson said: ”We are furious at the level of illegal migrants and asylum hotels.
“This government will close every asylum hotel. Work is well under way, with more suitable sites being brought forward to ease pressure on communities and cut asylum costs.”
Around 32,000 asylum seekers are currently being accommodated in hotels, a drop from a peak of more than 56,000 in 2023 but 2,500 more than last year.
A report on Monday found billions of taxpayers’ money had been “squandered” on asylum accommodation.
The Home Affairs Committee said “flawed contracts” and “incompetent delivery” had resulted in the Home Office relying on hotels as “go-to solutions” rather than temporary stop-gaps, with expected costs tripling to more than £15bn.
Commenting on the report’s findings, Sir Keir said he was “determined” to close all asylum hotels, adding: “I can’t tell you how frustrated and angry I am that we’ve been left with a mess as big as this by the last government.”
Two former military sites – MDP Wethersfield, a former RAF base in Essex, and Napier Barracks, a former military base in Kent – are already being used to house asylum seekers after being opened under the previous Tory government.