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Appeal Court Quashes Ban on Housing Asylum Seekers at Epping’s Bell Hotel

The decision centers on national capacity pressures outweighing an interim planning order.

Overview

  • A three-judge panel — Lord Justice Bean, Lady Justice Nicola Davies and Lord Justice Cobb — set aside the 19 August High Court injunction as "seriously flawed in principle."
  • The 138 residents can remain beyond 12 September, with Epping Forest District Council's substantive planning case listed for a full hearing in October.
  • Judges said the injunction risked incentivising further protests and ignored that closing one site requires finding capacity elsewhere in the asylum system.
  • Police prepared for fresh demonstrations, with officers stationed at the Epping hotel and rallies planned across more than 20 locations over the weekend.
  • The Home Office argued the order would disrupt its duty to house vulnerable people; official data show 32,059 asylum seekers in hotels at end-June, and ministers have reiterated plans to end hotel use by 2029.