Overview

• Home Office figures show 32,059 people were in hotel accommodation at the end of June, an 8% rise year on year but 43% below the September 2023 peak.
• The High Court granted Epping Forest District Council a temporary injunction blocking use of the Bell Hotel, requiring residents to leave by 12 September.
• Councils led by different parties are assessing similar legal action, and ministers say they are preparing for further challenges to hotel placements.
• Contractors working for the Home Office have reportedly sought around 5,000 residential units to house roughly 20,000 people as a short‑term alternative.
• Dozens of protests and counter‑protests are expected outside hotel sites across England this weekend, as record annual asylum applications reached about 111,084 in the year to June.