Government urged to cancel Milton Keynes' asylum seeker hotel contract due to owner's criminal conviction

Council leaders are urging the government to cancel a contract to accommodate asylum seekers in the city’s Harben House hotel – because the place is owned by a man with a criminal conviction.

And they are asking for a full inquiry as to why a Home Office contract was awarded in the first place.

The hotel, which is in Tickford Street Newport Pagnell, is owned by Tulip Real Estate Ltd and the company is majority owned by Mr Siddharth Mahajan, say MK Labour.

Today (Monday) the group issued a statement saying Mr Siddharth Mahajan was convicted in 2019 of serious offences under the Proceeds of Crime Act which included perverting the course of justice and forging documents.

The matter was in relation to illegal HMO accommodation and he was jailed for 12 weeks.

The Citizen was aware of the matter and discussed it with Mr Mahajan last week, just before the first asylum seekers moved in to the hotel.

But because the conviction happened just over four years ago, it was legally ‘spent’ and could not be reported.

However, a press statement from a political party carries legal privilege and can be printed in the public interest.

Cllr Pete Marland, Labour leader of Milton Keynes City Council, has now written to Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP, Minister for Immigration, to ask that the contract with the company be terminated immediately.

He has stated that the Home Office, responsible for law and order, should not be giving taxpayers money to a convicted criminal.

Cllr Marland has demanded that the Conservative government set up an inquiry to find out why the contract was awarded. He has also asked that the Home Office publish how much money the contract was worth, if any other property owned by Tulip Real Estate Ltd or Mr Siddharth Mahajan is being used by the Home Office and if any other people convicted of criminal offences have been awarded lucrative funding to house asylum seekers.

Last week the Citizen revealed Mr Mahajan’s company had bought Whately Hall Hotel in Banbury in April. This has been used to house asylum seekers through the Home Office since early last year.

MK Labour has additionally written to Ben Everitt MP for Milton Keynes North to ask that he support the call to end the contract and set up an inquiry into the Conservatives government’s handling of the matter.

Cllr Pete Marland, Leader of MK City Council said: “The Conservative asylum shambles has reached yet another new low as it is revealed that the Conservative government has been giving a convicted criminal’s company taxpayers money. It is incredible that the department responsible for law or order is allowing a man who perverted the course of justice and forged documents in relation to a housing matter to get rich.

"The government must terminate the contract immediately and set up an inquiry into another chaotic decision.”

Chris Curtis, Labour spokesperson for MK North, said: “The MK Labour Party are also calling on Ben Everitt MP to fully back the call to terminate this shocking and inexplicable state of affairs. He needs to support a full inquiry into how a lucrative contracts are being awarded and what background checks have been done on who the Home Office are giving contracts to. People moving into the hotel are subject to background checks, as Ben pointed out last week, so he now needs to show that the same standard applies to those that are getting rich on the back of his Conservative government’s incompetent handling of the asylum

Cllr Marland concluded: “The events around how the Conservative government have handled the asylum hotel shows that they are in chaos and incapable of governing properly. They have failed to stop the boats, the asylum application backlog is at a record high and now they letting convicted criminals profit from lucrative Home Office contracts. This total and utter mess must end.”

Meanwhile Mr Mahajan was uncontactable this afternoon. But he told the Citizen last week: “I am a good man…. I served my time and I learned lessons from it...You are not allowed to publish it. You can talk to my barrister if you wish,” he said.

He is using Countrywide Hotels to manage Harben House but earlier refused to reveal how much money he was earning from the Home Office contract.

But based on government-published figures stating that the cost of accommodating more than 45,500 asylum seekers in hotels is £5.6 million a day, the cost works out at £123 per person per day.

In the case of the 140 bedroom Harben House, where 200 asylum seekers are allocated, this equates to £24,000 per day. But it could be less because some of the asylum seekers could be sharing rooms.

We asked Mr Mahajan earlier how much he was being paid. He said: "I can’t answer that. I do not know. I am just the landlord and I employ Countrywide Hotels to run the place...I do not have that information.”

He said he bought the hotel just two weeks ago but Countrywide had been running the place for the past two years, when it housed refugee families from Afghanistan.

"It was already being paid by the government. I cannot say how much I will get,” he said.

I use a reputable company, Countrywide, to run my places. They are well-run and very professional and people need for worry,” he said.