Residents in a West Sussex village have told the Daily Express the negative impact asylum hotels have had on house prices and living standards. The small village on the doorstep of Gatwick airport is quintessentially British, with a golf course and local pub interspersed among farmland and countryside.

Historically, any form of public outrage has centred on issues related to the airport, such as flight paths and traffic levels, but in recent years, the transformation of two hotels into accommodation for asylum seekers has caused strain on public services and has coincided with a fall in house prices in the area. Retiree John MacCaulay lives opposite the Copthorne Hotel and believes that it has contributed to a downturn in property prices. He told the Daily Express: “We put this house on the market last year and for three months nobody came. The man on the corner of the road has just sold his house, and that took over a year.

“The guy at the end has had his on the market for over a year, and his price has come way down, and he still hasn’t sold it.”

Figures from Rightmove show that in the last year, house prices in Copthorne fell by 9%.

That comes despite Office for National Statistics figures showing that house prices in the South East rose by around 4.6% in the 12 months to January 2025.

One hotel has recently undergone renovation work ahead of a potential reopening to the public, but one remains in use and continues to divide opinion across the village.

At a time when public services are stretched to the breaking point, the parachuting in of asylum seekers waiting for their applications to be processed has had a noticeable impact on locals’ ability to access key provisions.

One resident with a for-sale sign in their garden, who did not want to be named, said that they had reduced the asking price three times since putting their house on the market.

John’s wife, Eileen, says that communication from the hotel with locals has been non-existent, further exacerbating views of frustrated residents feeling the impact of their proximity to the accommodation.

She said: “We are overcrowded in this village in respect of public services and all of the things that we need. Doctor’s appointment? What is that? Come back in three years, and you might get one, or call at eight o’clock and join a list. My husband and I have not seen a doctor in years.”

The couple are one of the first people we meet as we walk around the village and are visibly frustrated not just by their personal experience of the UK’s floundering migration policy but of the Government’s handling of a national issue.

Sir Keir Starmer’s plans to reduce the use of asylum hotels by incentivising private landlords to take in asylum seekers particularly irks the pair, who believe that it will encourage more people to make dangerous crossings and is a slap in the face to UK citizens without a house they can call home.

Mr Macaulay added: “These people are illegal entrants into the country. What other country in the world would say ‘oh yeah you can just come in, we will look after you.’ I read that Labour are planning to move them out of hotels and into private accommodation, but that doesn’t cut down on the cost.

“If anything, it is encouraging more people to come by, saying ‘we might not get a hotel, but we will get a house of our own.’

“Everybody I know, I play a lot at the local golf course, and everybody says the same thing, it is nuts. Why don’t we pick up students and give them a house first?”

Under the proposals, private landlords could be offered five years of guaranteed rent to accommodate those awaiting the outcome of their applications.

The cost of doing so is expected to be cheaper than using hotels, at around £14 per night on average as opposed to £145.

But there are fears that doing so could exacerbate an existing housing shortage and cause similar issues to those being experienced by some of Copthorne’s residents.

Across the village, views are mixed, and many people are hesitant to talk out of fear of being labelled racist or unsympathetic to the plight of those living in hotels.

A woman in her thirties who lives on a street across from the hotel spoke on condition of anonymity after run-ins with hotel residents that left her feeling “intimidated.”

“I have a tree at the end of the drive which has a pool of fag butts and we see residents from the hotel just walking past and flicking them in there as they walk past. We physically see hotel residents walk past our drive and throw rubbish down our drive. A couple of months ago, my other half saw a resident walk past and spit on our drive.”

“I have put the bins out on an evening, especially in the winter when it is dark and you get groups of men walking past saying ‘hello madame’ and it is really intimidating. There have been a few instances like that.”

The lady works from home three days a week in a house near a bus stop used by many of the hotel residents.

She added: “We have seen a real difference in the area, there have been noticeable changes. We live close to the bus stop, which has a lot of people congregating around it, which does get frustrating, but equally, there are some who do integrate well into the community.

“It has put us off the area, and we are looking to move. There are a couple of other factors, but the impact of the hotel is the main one.”

Local MP Mims Davies, who is currently the Shadow Minister for Women and Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, says that residents are welcoming of those in need, but that she has significant concerns about the reality of what is happening.

She said: “Several constituents have been in contact to share their concerns and express deep worries about the reports they are hearing of what is happening at the site.

“While my constituents want us continue to be welcoming and supportive to those genuinely in need of a safe haven, this is not what they are seeing or feeling is happening at the Home Office acquired site of the local Copthorne Hotels and they want answers as to how long this situation will go for and that all the issues being raised are being dealt with.

“My constituents now feel their provision of local services is being reduced alongside understandable worries about the impact of large numbers of single adult men stuck in this semi-rural location, leading to reports of possible illegal working, safety concerns, growing mess in the vicinity, noise and rubbish.

“I have been in touch with the Home Office asking questions of Ministers on my constituents’ behalf, and asking for a visit to the hotels to be arranged urgently and for their worries to be acknowledged and crucially acted on.”

Open hostility and resentment of the presence of asylum seekers are not universal across the village. Many people are indifferent to their presence and have no experience of any adverse impact from their use of the hotel.

Emma Harrington, 49, lives opposite the bus stop and feels that the migrants have often been used as scapegoats for anything negative that happens in the area.

She said: “I know it bothers a lot of people, but I can’t say it has had any noticeable impact on me. At the end of the day, they have to be housed somewhere, and I haven’t been aware of any trouble or issues as a result.

“But I know it angers a lot of people, if you saw the messages on the local Facebook group it is clear that there is a lot of strong feeling. Any crime that happens tends to see the migrants get blamed straightaway before the facts have even become clear.”