GP-linked property vehicle at center of disputed asylum accommodation and eviction claims

An investigation found that a group of firms with ties to a prominent regional doctor acquired multiple hotel and residential properties and then positioned them for use as government-contracted asylum housing. Transactions clustered in 2021–22 included the purchase of several freeholds and, later, a £3.5m acquisition of a hotel that remained in asylum use; another property converted into this role reportedly closed with significant unpaid liabilities. Residents of a Liverpool apartment block received letters urging temporary evacuation for urgent fire remedial work, a move tenants say coincided with plans to house new asylum occupants in their place. The correspondence to leaseholders had promoted a Home Office-backed arrangement offering a guaranteed monthly sum per flat — an incentive framed as lasting up to several years — but the BBC’s review indicates the key agreement was at draft stage rather than finalised. Local authorities and contract managers were reportedly in talks about suitability and safety of city-centre accommodation, and a different hotel was moved into service within days of its purchase. Corporate structures tied to the property vehicle used offshore trusts, directors from Isle of Man and BVI firms, and intermediaries with professional links that complicate public tracing of ultimate control and benefit. Legal friction has materialised: leaseholders won an injunction in one building to prevent lock changes, and allegations of attempted illegal evictions have been made in relation to other blocks. One formerly operated asylum hotel in Cumbria entered liquidation owing wages and tax liabilities, with debts running into six figures and the closure raising questions over operational oversight. Those connected to the corporate ownership deny direct managerial involvement by the GP highlighted in reporting, describing a separation between personal practice and investment arrangements; critics including the local MP argue transparency about ownership and procurement is in the public interest. The pattern of rapid acquisition, swift mobilisation of accommodation, and use of opaque ownership vehicles creates governance and accountability gaps where public funds and vulnerable people intersect. The dispute exposes weaknesses in how commercial landlords, contracted providers and the Home Office coordinate, particularly where private landlords and tenants are given incomplete or misleading information. The episode has prompted calls for stronger due diligence in awarding accommodation contracts and for clearer safeguards to prevent displacement of existing residents. In sum, the facts point to a tension between a market responding quickly to demand for accommodation and the regulatory, ethical and legal duties owed to existing tenants and to asylum claimants.