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4h ago

Home Office Battles Epping Hotel Injunction at Court of Appeal

The government warned the ruling could become a model for councils to shut asylum hotels.

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Media reports outside The Bell Hotel, following Tuesday's High Court ruling in London that granted a temporary injunction to stop asylum seekers from being housed at the site, in Epping, Britain, August 20, 2025. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes/File Photo
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Overview

  • The Home Office and Somani Hotels asked Court of Appeal judges for permission to challenge an interim High Court order restricting use of the Bell Hotel for asylum accommodation beyond 12 September.
  • Government lawyers said the decision undermines the duty to house vulnerable people and could encourage further protests outside asylum sites, according to submissions from the home secretary.
  • Counsel for Somani Hotels told the court that 138 people currently at the Bell would face hardship if the injunction stands and that there is no clear alternative accommodation.
  • Epping Forest District Council opposed the appeal, arguing the judge applied settled planning principles, that the case creates no precedent, and noting the High Court had declined to let the Home Office intervene.
  • The Bell Hotel has been a focus of recent demonstrations and arrests, and official data show 32,059 asylum seekers were in UK hotels at the end of June, with the interim order remaining in force pending the ruling.