A BBC investigation has revealed that more than 100 tenants in Liverpool were threatened with eviction after property companies linked to a prominent NHS GP prepared to convert their homes into asylum accommodation for the Home Office.
Residents in a private apartment complex in central Liverpool were told they had to leave their homes over “urgent” fire safety concerns, only to later discover that plans had been drawn up to move more than 100 asylum seekers into the building. The case has raised serious questions about transparency, tenant rights and the role of private landlords in the UK’s asylum accommodation system.
The firms involved were connected to Dr Faisal Maassarani, a GP who runs several NHS practices across Merseyside and has been linked to hotel and property companies supplying accommodation to Serco, the Home Office’s main contractor for housing asylum seekers.
Fire Safety Claims and Sudden Eviction Notices
In March 2023, tenants at Parliament Place in Liverpool received letters stating they had four weeks to vacate their flats because the building required urgent fire safety works. Residents said the wording caused panic and fear of immediate eviction.
One tenant, Andrew Lewis, said people were left “in disbelief” and believed the works were a pretext to clear the building. Only after pressing the managing agents did tenants learn that their leases were set to be terminated entirely, rather than temporarily suspended.
Behind the scenes, draft proposals indicated the building was being lined up to house 116 asylum seekers under a potential Home Office contract. At the time, Liverpool City Council and the Home Office were under pressure over the use of a nearby city-centre hotel for asylum accommodation, making alternative sites urgently needed.
Links to Serco and the Home Office
The apartments were owned by a company connected to Schloss Roxburghe Holdings, which had acquired several properties and hotels across the North West as asylum applications surged to near 20-year highs in 2022. The group also owned hotels in Liverpool, Hoylake and Cumbria that were rapidly converted into asylum accommodation under contracts with Serco.
Emails sent to some private landlords in the Parliament Place block offered guaranteed rental income under a proposed Home Office deal, suggesting the building had already been assessed for suitability. Liverpool City Council later confirmed it had carried out informal checks but said it never instructed that tenants should be moved out.
Dr Faisal Maassarani’s Business Links
Dr Maassarani’s involvement in the property group was concealed through a complex web of offshore trusts and corporate structures based in the Isle of Man. He said he had no role in day-to-day management, did not authorise tenant communications and derived no personal income from the company. He confirmed he had been informed of asylum accommodation plans but insisted operational decisions were taken by others.
The trust that owns the property company was established to fund education for his family, and associates with long-standing business ties to him were involved in managing the asylum accommodation arrangements.
Wider UK Asylum Accommodation Pressures
The case highlights growing tensions across the UK as the Home Office relies increasingly on private landlords and hotels to house record numbers of asylum seekers. Councils in cities such as Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow have warned that rapid conversions of residential and hotel properties are straining communities and creating legal and ethical concerns about tenant displacement.
Following objections from landlords and residents, the Parliament Place plan was ultimately abandoned and tenants were allowed to stay. No major fire safety works were carried out.