councils

Some councils say they are still pursuing legal action to stop asylum seekers from being housed in hotels in their areas, despite a Court of Appeal ruling.

The court on Friday overturned a temporary injunction which would have prevented asylum seekers from being housed at The Bell Hotel in Epping, which was seen as a possible precedent for legal challenges elsewhere.

Two councils told the BBC they will keep pursuing legal action. Epping Forest District Council, which had obtained the injunction, said it is looking at options, including appealing to the Supreme Court.

Reform UK said all 12 councils it controls should be exploring legal options to stop asylum seekers being housed in local hotels.

Kemi Badenoch urged Conservative-run councils pursuing legal action to “keep going,” and said advice would be issued to all Conservative councillors following the ruling.

The party leader said in a statement on Friday: “Every case has different circumstances, and I know good Conservative councils will keep fighting for residents, so we will keep working with them every step of the way.”

The government has committed to end the use of hotels to hold asylum seekers by 2029.

The leader of Reform-controlled West Northamptonshire Council said Friday’s ruling did not change its plans to take legal action regarding hotels in the area, which he said were “already under way”.

Cllr Mark Arnull said: “It also doesn’t change our view that the use and locations of the three hotels have never been suitable for asylum accommodation and place unreasonable and unsustainable strain on local services.”

He added: “We will continue to do everything we can within our powers to address our residents’ concerns over these hotels and keep them safe.”

Hertfordshire’s Conservative-run Broxbourne Council also said it would press on with pursuing legal action.

Cllr Jim Clune told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We have grave concerns that from a planning perspective, the hotel or the premises is not being used as set out when planning permission was given.”

In its original case, Epping Forest had argued that The Bell Hotel had become a public safety risk as well as an alleged planning law breach, arguing it had stopped functioning as a true hotel.

The leader of Epping Forest District Council told the BBC on Saturday it was “looking at all options, including appealing to the Supreme Court”.

A full High Court hearing to decide on a permanent injunction for The Bell Hotel is expected in mid-October, but Cllr Chris Whitbread said the Conservative-run council would meet on Monday to plan its next steps.

Barrister Chris Daw KC told BBC 5 Live Breakfast that Epping Forest was “not going to succeed in the Supreme Court,” should it take its case there.

Responding, Cllr Whitbread said he took his remarks “on board”.

He later told BBC Breakfast that “people are very disappointed” by the judgement and that he expected protests near the hotel to continue.

“I don’t think it will change, people want that hotel closed” he said, urging people to demonstrate peacefully.

Three arrests were made at a protest outside the hotel on Friday after the Court of Appeal ruling. Thousands had attended protests against the hotel and counter-demonstrations there over the summer.

Meanwhile, the Times reported that it understood at least 13 councils planned on pressing ahead with legal action.

In his ruling on Friday, Lord Justice Bean said the High Court’s decision to award the injunction was “seriously flawed in principle” and had failed to consider the consequence of relocating 138 asylum seekers who would have been forced to leave The Bell Hotel by 12 September.

He also said it was “worrying” that the council’s legal team cited protests outside the hotel as a reason it was seeking the original injunction.

Lord Justice Bean said in his ruling: “If an outbreak of protest enhances a case, this runs the risk of acting as an impetus for further protests – some of which may be disorderly – around asylum accommodation.”

“There is a risk of encouraging further lawlessness.”

The protests began after an asylum seeker housed at the hotel was arrested and subsequently charged with several offences, including the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl. Hadush Kebatu denies the offences and has been on trial.

Border Security and Asylum Minister Dame Angela Eagle said after the ruling that the government would “stop using hotels, which aren’t a sustainable solution, by the end of this Parliament”.

“This judgement assists us by allowing us to do that in a planned and orderly fashion”.

The chief executive of the Refugee Council said the Court of Appeal’s ruling did not “solve the problems we’re facing”.

Enver Solomon told BBC Breakfast on Saturday: “It doesn’t address the fact that the taxpayer is having to pay millions of pounds a day for hotels, and those that are in the hotels feel they’ve got a target on their back.”

He said the government had to “move much faster” to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers and suggested it put a plan in place “to close hotels in the coming months”.

He added: “Our view is that we shouldn’t be using hotels. They have become a flashpoint for community concern, but also for far-right targeting as well.”

STUDENT accommodation, colleges and disused tower blocks may replace migrant hotels as councils continue to revolt.

The move is part of Labour’s pledge to stop using hotels to house migrants by 2029,

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However, nearly 200 hotels are still in use, putting up more than 32,000 people, according to recent figures.

Labour said it no longer wants to house migrants on large sites like military bases.

Instead, it is reportedly planning to use sites which are easier to make habitable and not as expensive to refurbish.

According to Dame Angela Eagle, the minister for border security, the plan is to use “medium-sized” sites like “voided tower blocks, old teacher training colleges or old student accommodation”.

This is because the Tories’ plans to use large sites like former military bases and the Bibby Stockholm barge would be too expensive.

She said the effort of tackling “asbestos-filled buildings and poisoned land” would be too pricey.

“I think that there are different, better ways of trying to achieve this kind of service than the ones that we’ve inherited,” she said.

It comes amid an urgent appeal from the Home Office, reportedly looking for 5,000 properties to house 20,000 migrants.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is already facing the humiliation of Labour councils revolting against his government’s loathed migrant hotel policy.

Huge pressure from councils run by every political party could hasten the end of the controversial Home Office policy.

A total of 32,059 asylum seekers were being housed temporarily in UK hotels at the end of Labour’s first year in Government, up 8 per cent on the same point 12 months ago, Home Office data shows.

But authorities are poised to follow Epping Forest council in Essex after it won a High Court injunction to halt asylum accommodation.

Now, it has been revealed that asylum accommodation contractors working for the Home Office “reached out” to property specialists earlier this month, seeking 5,000 residential units, reports the Telegraph.

Insiders told the outlet that each flat would likely have two bedrooms on average, with space to house four migrants.

ASYLUM SEEKER HOTEL PROTESTS

This Bank Holiday weekend, around 30 migrant hotels are bracing for a wave of protests as campaigners are bolstered by this week’s landmark ruling.

The High Court ordered the removal of migrants from the hotel in Essex, which has become the face of the row over asylum seeker accommodation.

It was the centre of protests after a migrant being housed there was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl – which he denies.

Several other demonstrations cropped up around the UK as communities rebelled against the migrant hotels in their area.

It is understood that there is a fresh wave of protests – at least 27 – planned outside of hotels this Bank Holiday weekend.

However anti-racism groups have warned towns and cities could experience the most disruption since last year’s summer riots.

Councils are also pushing back, following the lead of Epping Forest Council, which argued for the hotel to be closed to reduce the threat of “violent protests” and for the safety of those living nearby.

Mr Justice Eyre ruled the owners may have breached planning rules by housing migrants rather than paying customers.

The Home Office argued that granting this application risks “acting as an impetus for further violent protests”.

The High Court ruling threatens Labour’s asylum seeker plans, as more and more councils express an intention to follow suit.

If more councils take action, ministers are unsure where more than 30,000 people in hotel rooms would live.

However Brighton and Hove City Council refused to launch a legal bid, saying it was a “proud city of sanctuary” and will continue to welcome and support asylum seekers.

Jacob Taylor, the local authority’s deputy leader, said “We will not comment on the location of hotels being used by the Home Office to provide temporary accommodation to people seeking asylum.

“I believe to do so in the current climate is irresponsible and risks causing division and unrest in our communities at a time when more than ever we need to bring people together.”

While some county councils will push for the closures, the legal steps to challenge the use of hotels falls to district and borough councils.

The Local ­Government Association called on the Home Office to work “much more closely” with ­authorities on asylum accommodation decisions.

The Home Office is scrambling to find accommodation for up to 138 men housed in the Bell Hotel in Epping before the September 12 deadline to empty it.

Pressed to give details of these contingency options, Minister of State for Security Dan Jarvis said: “With respect, the legal judgment was only handed down yesterday.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has written to Yvette Cooper to demand that those in the Bell Hotel are not moved to apartments, houses in multiple occupation, or social housing which is “much needed for British people”.

When there is not enough housing, the Home Office – which has a legal obligation to provide accommodation to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute – can move people to alternatives such as hotels and large sites, like former military bases.

Amid hotel protests, campaigners including Rape Crisis and Refuge have warned conversations about violence against women and girls are being “hijacked by an anti-migrant agenda” which they argued fuels divisions and harms survivors.

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RECORD NUMBERS OF MIGRANTS

It comes after it was revealed that a record number of people claimed asylum in the UK in the last year – with a massive 32,000 currently living in taxpayer-funded hotels.

Home Office data shows that 111,000 people claimed asylum in the year ending June 2025 up 14 per cent on last year.

It is higher than the previous recorded peak of 103,000 which was set in 2002.

The number of people claiming asylum in this country has almost doubled since 2021.

And just under half of all those applying for protection in the UK are granted it at the initial decision stage – 48 per cent.

It is lower than in 2022 when 77 per cent of those applying were given the green light.

Half of all those came via irregular routes – such as on a small boat or in the back of a lorry – while 37 per cent claimed asylum after previously arriving on a valid visa.

In the year up to March, the UK was the fifth biggest recipient of asylum seekers in the UK after Germany, Spain, Italy and France.

The sky-high figures come as the number of migrants being housed in hotels has INCREASED since Labour came into power.

A total of 32,059 asylum seekers were being housed in hotels at the end of Labour’s first year in Government up 8 per cent on the same point 12 months ago.

Around 210 hotels are currently open across the UK despite Labour’s manifesto pledge to end their use.

In the year to June, the top five nationalities of people arriving in Dover were Afghan, Eritrean, Iranian, Syrian and Sudanese.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is encouraging Tory-controlled councils to consider launching legal challenges against the use of hotels to house asylum seekers in their areas.

Badenoch said Epping Forest District Council had achieved “a victory for local people”, after a High Court ruling blocked a hotel from housing asylum seekers.

In a letter to Conservative council leaders, Badenoch wrote “we back you to take similar action to protect your community… if your legal advice supports it”.

A Labour spokesperson said Badenoch’s letter was “desperate and hypocritical nonsense from the architects of the broken asylum system”.

The Labour spokesperson said under the Tories, “the number of asylum hotels in use rose as high as 400”.

“There are now half that and there are now 20,000 fewer asylum seekers in hotels than at their peak under the Tories,” the spokesperson added.

It comes after the High Court on Monday granted the Conservative-controlled Epping council a temporary injunction to stop migrants from being accommodated at The Bell Hotel in Essex.

The court ruled that about 140 asylum seekers must be moved out of the hotel by 12 September, giving the government limited time to find alternative housing.

Councils across England are considering similar legal challenges as ministers to draw up contingency plans for housing asylum seekers set to be removed from the Bell Hotel.

Historically, hotels have only been used to house asylum seekers in short-term emergency situations when other accommodation was unavailable.

But hotel use rose sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic, hitting a peak of 56,042 in 2023 when the Conservatives were in government.

The Labour government has pledged to end the use of migrant hotels by 2029, by cutting small-boat crossings and speeding up decisions on asylum claims.

There were 32,345 asylum seekers being housed in hotels at the end of March, down 15% from the end of December, according to Home Office figures.

In recent years, other councils have taken legal action in an attempt to close asylum hotels in their areas but in previous cases judges have refused to intervene.

Conservative-run Epping Forest District Council successfully argued its case was different as the hotel had become a safety risk, as well as a breach of planning law by ceasing to be a normal hotel.

The judge ruled in favour of the council, which made the case there had been “evidenced harms” related to protests around the hotel, which had led to violence and arrests.

For other councils to follow suit they would have to show the High Court evidence of local harm.

On Wednesday, a number of councils, including some run by Labour, said they were assessing their legal options.

In her letter, Badenoch told Tory council leaders they may “wish to take formal advice from planning officers on the other planning enforcement options available to your council in relation to unauthorised development or change of use”.

The Conservative leader of Broxbourne Council, Corina Gander, said she was “expecting to go down the same path” as Epping Forest District Council when filing a legal challenge to an asylum hotel in her area.

“We do not know who is in that hotel and it has brought an unease to the community,” Gander told BBC Newsnight.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said all 10 councils controlled by his party will “do everything in their power to follow Epping’s lead”.

“Several of them are already examining the legal transcript from that case,” Reform’s head of Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) Zia Yusuf said, adding “only a minority of our ten councils have planning control.”

The leader of Reform UK-led West Northamptonshire Council said he was “considering the implications of this judgment to understand any similarities and differences and actively looking at the options now available to us”.

Carol Dean, leader of Labour-controlled Tamworth Council, said her authority had previously decided against legal action but was now “carefully assessing” what the decision might mean for the area.

She said it was a “potentially important legal precedent”.

Wirral Council said it was also “considering the detail of the judgement and how it might impact on planning consent for the proposed use of the former hotel in Hoylake”.

Last week, the Labour-run council asked the Home Office to review its decision to house single male asylum seekers rather than families in the former Holiday Inn Express.

If successful, further legal challenges have the potential to pile more pressure on the government to find alternative housing options for migrants.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said asylum seekers moved out of the hotel in Epping should not be put in other hotels, flats or house-shares.

In a letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, he called for alternative accommodation such as former military sites or barges to be used.

Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Conservative former leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt said “Kemi is right to back local councils” but warned the consequence of stopping asylum hotels would be more people put into local accommodation and family housing stock converted into HMOs [houses of multiple occupation].

“That is going to be so much worse than hotels. It will alter the housing stock in particular,” she added, suggesting the availability of housing in the area would slim.

Home Office Minister Dan Jarvis told the BBC the government was “looking at contingency options” for housing those being moved out of the Bell Hotel but gave no specific examples.

“There’s likely to be a range of different arrangements in different parts of the country,” Jarvis said.

In June, ministers said the government was looking at buying tower blocks and former student accommodation, external to house migrants.