Key facts
- The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said Rayner granted full planning permission for temporary, phased use of the former MoD Bicester storage site.
- The Home Office said planning permission allows it to continue progressing the site, but a final decision to proceed is yet to be taken.
- The plans cover accommodation for 1,256 detained asylum seekers near Piddington, a village near Bicester.
- A six-week window is open in which the decision can face a legal challenge.
- The Home Office said the government has saved over £1bn in costs since the election, including by closing all asylum hotels.
Communities secretary Angela Rayner has granted full planning permission for an asylum centre at a Ministry of Defence site near the village of Piddington in Oxfordshire, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said on November 12, 2026. The decision approves refurbishment and redevelopment of the former barracks for the temporary, phased use of the former MoD Bicester storage site.
The Home Office said the permission allows it to continue progressing the use of MoD Bicester, but that a final decision to proceed is yet to be taken. A spokesperson said the government is working on a fairer distribution of asylum accommodation across the country, with over £1bn saved in costs since the election, including by closing all asylum hotels and moving to alternative accommodation such as former military sites. Those sites are designed to be self-contained, with 24/7 security and CCTV, the spokesperson said.
The housing department said it would not comment further because the decision may be subject to legal challenge. There is a six-week window in which the decision can face such a challenge.
In September, people in Piddington voted in a symbolic referendum against plans to house 1,256 detained asylum seekers nearby, with 285 in favour of independence from the UK and 26 against. The poll was organised by campaigners to demonstrate opposition to the plans near the town of Bicester.
In October, the group Wrong Plan Wrong Site sought a judicial review into the Home Office proposals. In August the government concluded an environmental assessment was unnecessary for the proposed development, a decision campaigners challenged, saying there were credible concerns about potential significant environmental effects.
Katie Lam, the shadow housing secretary of state, said Rayner had told the people of Piddington their voices count for nothing, and criticized moving migrants from hotels to military bases. The Home Office announced in June it was exploring the use of three former military sites, MoD Bicester, MoD Barnham and MoD Linton-on-Ouse, and is also seeking to extend the use of two existing sites, Crowborough until 2030 and Wethersfield beyond 2027.