British billionaire Graham King, dubbed the ‘migrant hotel king’, is seeing his company receive £3.26million in taxpayer-funded payments every day for accommodating asylum seekers.
King’s firm, Clearsprings Ready Homes, is one of three companies contracted by the Government to provide accommodation for migrants arriving in the UK during the small boats crisis.
The highly profitable deal has transformed the fortunes of the Essex businessman, who last year became Britain’s first asylum hotel billionaire.
King, who previously owned a caravan park and a disco, has made little effort to hide his wealth. He has spent heavily on a luxury London property and a home in Monaco.
However, the Government’s drive to move asylum seekers out of hotels and into more basic military-style accommodation has put pressure on his business. The number of ‘service users’ housed by Clearsprings fell from 39,919 in 2025 to 29,995 this year.
Even so, the company continues to generate substantial profits. Clearsprings recorded earnings of £37.7million in 2026, down only slightly from £44.145million the previous year, indicating that asylum accommodation remains a lucrative industry.
Much of that income is funded by the taxpayer, with thousands of asylum seekers relying on Government-provided housing each year.
Hundreds of migrants have crossed the English Channel in recent days, taking the number of people making the journey so far in 2026 to 23,129.
Graham King, pictured, has been dubbed the ‘migrant hotel king’ as his company receives £3.26million in taxpayer funding each day to accommodate asylum seekers
King spends much of his time taking luxury holidays with his Latvian girlfriend, Lolita Lace
On Wednesday, figures showed that 10,136 migrants had crossed during Mr Burnham’s premiership, undermining claims that the Labour Prime Minister has brought the crisis under control.
The daily average of 96.5 arrivals was higher than the figures recorded under former prime ministers Rishi Sunak, Boris Johnson and Theresa May.
Companies such as Clearsprings are benefiting from the continued arrivals, with the firm earning £3.26million a day from housing new migrants, The Sun reports.
Clearsprings, Mears and Serco are the three contractors responsible for providing accommodation to asylum seekers across Britain. The taxpayer-funded contract is believed to be worth about £7billion.
The Essex-based company recorded turnover of almost £1.2billion and now holds assets valued at £89million.
Clearsprings said: ‘There has been a reduction in demand for asylum accommodation, including contingency housing such as hotels, despite ongoing political and economic instability in several countries contributing to high levels of asylum applications in the UK during the year.’
Chris Philp MP, the Shadow Home Secretary, said: ‘Labour should be removing illegal immigrants within a week of their arrival, rather than placing them in hotels and flats at enormous cost to British taxpayers, who are paying more than £1billion a year to house these illegal immigrants.
‘The Labour Government is removing just seven per cent of small boat arrivals, allowing private contractors to continue profiting from its failure to secure the borders. Enough is enough.
‘It is time to adopt the Conservative Borders Plan: leave the ECHR so that illegal immigrants can be deported swiftly instead of being accommodated at an extortionate cost. British taxpayers must come first, not illegal immigrants.’
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Last month, it emerged that landlords were being offered thousands of pounds more in rent to house asylum seekers than they could receive by accommodating British families at risk of homelessness.
Clearsprings has been offering property owners three-year agreements worth more than twice the amount available from local councils, prompting warnings that vulnerable tenants could be priced out of the housing market.
In one example, a south London landlord was offered £4,500 a month for a three-bedroom flat that he was renting to Southwark Council for £1,790.
The proposed arrangement would have increased his annual income by £32,520, while the contractor also offered to pay bills, council tax and maintenance expenses.
A Clearsprings site in Wethersfield, Essex, pictured, accommodates 800 guests and includes a gym and football pitch
The landlord rejected the proposal, warning that ending his council agreement could leave families facing a serious risk of homelessness.
The revelations prompted anger among opposition politicians, who accused Labour of overseeing a system that prioritises migrants over vulnerable people in Britain.
Philp described the situation as a ‘day of shame’ for the Government.
Last year, reports claimed that Clearsprings had generated almost £187million in profits since receiving its lucrative taxpayer-funded contract.
The agreement runs until September 2029 and is estimated to be worth £7.3billion. It was initially valued at £1billion before the surge in small boat arrivals.
King’s fortune has grown alongside Britain’s expanding asylum backlog. The 57-year-old was estimated last year to be worth £1.015billion after his wealth rose by 35 per cent, making him the country’s first asylum hotel billionaire.
The businessman and his Latvian partner, Lolita Lace, split their time between a luxury property in Britain and a residence in Monaco, alongside lavish trips to the Caribbean and the French Alps.
King grew up on Canvey Island and began his career as a caravan park and disco owner. He first appeared on the Sunday Times Rich List last year after profiting from the rise in small boat crossings.
He was ranked 154th on the 2025 list of Britain’s wealthiest people, up from 221st place the year before, when he made his debut with an estimated fortune of £750million.
A group believed to be migrants is escorted to the Border Security Command compound in Dover, Kent, on Friday
The migration crisis that has gripped Britain in recent years shows little sign of easing, despite Labour’s claims that it is gaining control of the number of people entering the country.
The latest crossings come amid mounting concerns about violence along the French coast, where dramatic footage showed migrants punching and pushing one another in desperate attempts to board boats heading for Britain.
The developments followed the unveiling of Shabana Mahmood’s new immigration rules on Monday, which were significantly diluted after a damaging internal dispute within the Labour Party.
The Home Secretary’s proposal to make low-skilled foreign nationals wait considerably longer before securing ‘settled’ status in Britain was rewritten following fierce resistance from the party’s Left wing.
