28/05/2026
The Cresta Court Should Be Returned to the Community.
The Cresta Court has been used to house people seeking asylum since November 2024. At the time, residents were told this was meant to be a 12-month contract between the Home Office, Serco and the hotel owners. Eighteen months later, the hotel is still being used.
The Liberal Democrats have always been clear: we do not want hotels to be used to house people seeking asylum, and we want the Cresta Court returned to its normal use in the community.
We are calling again on the Government to stop using Cresta Court in this way, and on Trafford Council to push for the hotel to be brought back into normal use.
The Liberal Democrats support a fair, firm and workable asylum system. That means reversing Conservative cuts to the Home Office so asylum applications can be processed much more quickly, the backlog can be cleared, and people can get a decision on their claim far sooner.
While their asylum application is being considered, people should be allowed to work, pay taxes and contribute towards their accommodation, instead of being left in hotels at taxpayers’ expense and vulnerable to illegal work.
Conservative ministers, including Robert Jenrick — now a Reform UK MP — failed to secure our borders and allowed people to be exploited by unscrupulous criminal gangs. But despite promising to improve the asylum system, Labour is failing to deliver. Nearly two years after its general election victory, hotels like Cresta Court are still being used.
Cresta Court should not be used as a sticking plaster for the Government’s broken asylum system.
Residents were told this would be temporary. Eighteen months later, it is time for the Labour Government to keep its word, stop using Cresta Court as asylum accommodation, and return it to the community.
