Overview

• The Court of Appeal will hear on Thursday at 10am bids by Somani Hotels and the Home Office to challenge a High Court injunction that ordered the Bell Hotel in Epping to stop housing asylum seekers and be vacated by 12 September if not overturned.
• The Home Office has cut the post‑grant eviction notice for refugees from 56 days back to 28 days, prompting warnings from councils and charities about a rise in homelessness.
• Ministers are in talks with local authorities about replacing private accommodation deals with council‑led models and are considering 2026 break clauses in contracts with Mears, Serco and Clearsprings, with roughly 32,000 people currently in about 210 hotels costing over £5m a day.
• South Norfolk Council says the Park Hotel in Diss will cease being used for asylum accommodation at the end of its current contract after the Home Office confirmed it is not planning further use of the site and residents began being moved out.
• The Refugee Council has urged a one‑off ‘permission‑to‑stay’ scheme for people from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Sudan and Syria, arguing it could close hotel use by March 2026 given high grant rates and current numbers in Home Office accommodation.