A plan for councils to provide new homes for asylum seekers has been halted by ministers amid concerns over costs, The i Paper has learnt, in a potential blow to Andy Burnham’s plan to shut asylum hotels. The Government scheme would have seen ministers give town halls funding to buy or build properties for migrants awaiting decisions on leave to remain, which would be added to the country’s social housing stock. But Whitehall sources told The i Paper the pilot programme has been halted with the Treasury questioning its value for money, and the housing department raising concerns about existing pressures on social housing including long waiting lists. Shorts Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has now switched her focus to moving asylum seekers out of hotels into large sites such as military bas