Like many towns across the UK, Bishop’s Stortford is divided by the issue of housing asylum seekers.

Except this southern market town doesn’t have any. Its local authority, East Hertfordshire, is one of 17 in the country that don’t currently accommodate any asylum seekers.

While the Home Office, not councils, decides on where and how many asylum seekers to send to an area, Andy Burnham has called on wealthier areas to accept more asylum seekers to relieve pressure on poorer communities.

East Hertfordshire is one of the most affluent councils in England, ranking 21st least deprived out of 296 local authorities in 2025.

Bishop’s Stortford, with its population of around 40,000, feels like a quintessential English market town on a late summer’s afternoon, with Union Jacks fluttering around the town centre, the high street humming with activity, and local shops selling pies and jellied eels.

But tensions over asylum seekers have run high in neighbouring areas. Just a half-hour’s drive away, violent protests broke out at The Bell Hotel in Epping last summer after an asylum seeker living there sexually assaulted a woman and a 14-year-old girl. In Cheshunt, smaller protests took place at the Delta Marriott in August 2025 after the Home Office housed 217 asylum seekers there.

Asylum seekers: Too many or needed in Britain?

Laila, who declined to share her surname, said she thought it was “terrible” that there are a no asylum seekers in East Hertfordshire, adding that immigrants “are extremely necessary for the British economy”.

“If [an area] has more money, then obviously it should do more than the areas that don’t have as much,” she told The i Paper.

John O’Rourke, 78, fears that there are too many asylum seekers arriving in the UK.

“The whole country is getting so messed up, we are being overrun. There’s too many,” he said.

O’Rourke said he was happy that no asylum seekers were being housed in East Hertfordshire, adding: “They shouldn’t be here in the first place, or at least not so many. Obviously, there are people out there who do need to escape, but are a lot of the countries they come from really that bad?”

Many of those claiming asylum in the UK are fleeing political instability or violence: a Home Office report last month showed almost half of asylum seekers came from Pakistan, Eritrea, Iran, Sudan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

One Afghan-born resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said: “If they come to this country and mix with society, work, pay their taxes and live a peaceful life, that’s OK. If they come, apply for benefits and commit crimes, that’s not OK, because they are given a better life here. They should be thankful for that.”

“If a few towns don’t do anything and hundreds of other towns do take asylum seekers, then no big deal,” he added when asked about Bishop’s Stortford share.

‘Does not mean we have spare housing’

In July 2022, East Hertfordshire council, then controlled by the Conservatives, said: “This Council… acknowledges the moral responsibility to give fair, humane and equal support to refugees and asylum seekers from many other countries, and especially to those who have put their own lives at risk by giving us assistance.” The council is currently controlled by a Greens-Lib Dem coalition.

Mione Goldspink, a Lib Dem local councillor, told The i Paper: “I think as a council, we’ve wanted to support asylum seekers, but I don’t think that we would be able to host any of them because of a lack of accommodation.”

“We have such a shortage of all forms of housing in East Hertfordshire and the council does not own its own housing stock. It would not be in a position to build houses which would be fit for multiple occupation,” she said.

Asked about the Government’s calls that wealthier areas house asylum seekers, she said: “If Andy Burnham could give us the means to house asylum seekers, then I would support his sentiment.”

A report published by the council in May said that 2,613 households on the council’s housing register needed affordable housing as of the end of last year. 1,827 households approached East Herts’ homelessness service for advice and assistance last year.

Goldspink’s concerns were shared by Graham McAndrew, a Reform councillor on the East Hertfordshire council who said: “From my conversations with constituents, there is sympathy for people genuinely fleeing war and persecution. However, there is also considerable concern about unlawful migration, pressure on housing and public services, the cost to taxpayers and whether the present asylum system is properly controlled.”

“Reform UK’s policy is that councils should prioritise the needs of British people, ensuring that social housing and other services are focused on British citizens and those who contribute to our country.”

He added that despite East Hertfordshire being seen as a wealthier area, that “does not mean that we have spare affordable housing, unlimited public-service capacity or sufficient council funding to meet every additional demand”.

The council reiterated that housing asylum seekers was up to the Home Office and said: “We recognise that people have strongly held views on this issue. However, as this is not a decision the council has been asked to make, we are unable to comment further.”

Flag wars

East Hertfordshire was among the areas that became embroiled in flag wars last year, with St George’s Crosses adorning houses and lampposts, and spray painted in public places.

Supporters of Raise the Colours, a group founded last year to place these flags around towns, largely saw it as simply an expression of patriotism. Critics say it’s a thinly disguised vehicle for anti-immigrant racism.

Laila, who is from Sweden but has Moroccan heritage, said she thinks that the flags are put up to intimidate people but that she sees them as welcoming. “World leaders exchange flags during state visits,” she explained, “so because [the people who put up the flags] are so stupid, they have actually tried to use a very nice gesture in a bad way.”

Femi Lawani, 55, said: “I think people are entitled to put up whatever flag they want.

“I’ve lived comfortably in Hertfordshire now for 14, 15 years and I’ve never had any issues in regards to the way people act towards me or my children.”

Goldspink said: “I think the majority of people feel kindly towards asylum seekers and refugees. I think the flags and the demonstrations which we saw last summer only represented a minority of people.”

McAndrew said: “For many local people, these flags represent patriotism […] Patriotism should be positive and unifying. It must never be used to justify racism, intimidation or unlawful conduct.”