The Home Office plans to send the first group of asylum seekers to a military site in East Sussex in the new year, the Guardian understands.
Discussions in Whitehall are under way to use Crowborough army training camp within weeks as part of efforts to end the use of hotels for asylum accommodation.
The discussions have come despite angry protests from local people and threats of legal action from the council and a community group.
Keir Starmer has pledged to end the use of hotels for asylum seekers by the next election, due no later than 2029. But recently the numbers have risen. There were 36,273 people staying in temporary accommodation in September, while awaiting a decision on their asylum claims, an increase of 13% compared with June, according to Home Office data.
While the Home Office has declined to comment on individual asylum accommodation sites, ministers remain determined to use the barracks in Crowborough to house 540 male asylum seekers.
Crowborough is one of two military camps identified by ministers to house 900 people – the other being in Inverness.
Officials had originally hoped to transfer people to the East Sussex barracks in the first week of December, but delayed the move to ensure the sites were safe and to avoid a fiasco such as when legionella was found on the Bibby Stockholm barge.
On 16 December, the Home Office wrote to Wealden district council to say no decision had been made on Crowborough. The council has been reassured it will be given a week’s notice before asylum seekers are sent to the site.
It is understood that ministers and officials have already begun preparations for the first people to arrive in January.
Crowborough is likely to be used to house men who have recently arrived on small boats because of its proximity to the south coast.
Local sources said there had been some movement on the campsite in recent days, with Home Office staff on site.
A residents’ group has raised more than £50,000 to pay for a judicial review to challenge use of the military base.
The residents claim the area around Crowborough lacks the infrastructure and facilities to cope with an influx of hundreds of mainly young men, who will be free to come and go from the base.
About 3,000 people have turned out for protests at the base. Wealden district council said the lack of communication and community engagement from the Home Office had been “appalling” and had led to widespread fear and disinformation.
“We will challenge any decision to use the camp if it is legally possible to do so and have instructed two leading barristers to advise us on the best course of action.
“As part of our challenge to the Home Office, we have already served a planning contravention notice on them,” a council spokesperson said.
Preparations have been made to cope with anticipated protests from resident groups and anti-migrant organisations, some with affiliations to far-right organisations.
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.
“We are working closely with local authorities, property partners and across government so that we can accelerate delivery.”
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