Asylum seekers can continue to be housed in The Bell Hotel in Essex, the High Court has ruled after it became a focal point for anti-immigration protests and council opposition.
It may be a short-term win for the Government, as the Home Office struggles to find enough alternative accommodation for asylum seekers.
However, the ruling runs the risk of stoking renewed outrage – with the Conservatives accusing Labour of “putting illegal immigrants” above British citizens.
Epping Forest District Council had taken legal action against Bell Hotel owner Somani Hotels, claiming that accommodating asylum seekers breached planning rules.
But the council has now failed to secure a permanent injunction that would block people from living at the hotel.
Mr Justice Mould dismissed the council’s claim on Tuesday – saying it is “not a case in which it is just and convenient for this court to grant an injunction”.
The judge also described hotels as “an important element of the supply of contingency accommodation”.
Here are three potential flashpoints that the Home Office faces following the ruling:
More protests ahead
The Epping Forest local authority argued that the hotel had become a “feeding ground for unrest and protest”.
The ‘Raise the Colours’ movement followed protests over the use of a hotel in Epping (Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA)The Bell Hotel became the subject of protests in the summer after an asylum seeker housed there was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Epping in July.
Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, an Ethiopian national, was jailed for 12 months in September. He was later mistakenly released from prison and re-detained, before being deported.
The Home Office had intervened in the hotel closure case, telling the court that the council’s bid was “misconceived”.
It means the Government could face further angry backlash from anti-asylum protesters in Essex and elsewhere in the country.
More headlines about small boats
The ruling will also spark fresh questions about the wider asylum issue, and whether the Government is doing enough to tackle the increase in small boat crossings.
The Government has vowed to close asylum hotels by 2029. But it still needs hotel sites to deal with people who arrive by small boats. Some 38,000 individuals have crossed the English Channel so far in 2025, higher than last year’s total.
Ministers will also face questions about the “one-in, one-out” scheme with France. Figures show it has only had a limited impact so far.
Only 94 people have been returned to France, with 57 sent to the UK from France in return. Of the 94, two people have made the crossing back to Britain again.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to announce new measures aimed at boosting deterrence later this month. She is said to be considering tighter rules on family reunions based on the system in Denmark.
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Struggle to find alternative accommodation
The Government has been able to reduce its reliance on asylum hotels. There were 400 open in summer 2023, and there are now fewer than 200, according to the Home Office.
But plans to move more asylum seekers into military barracks have faced a backlash in the earmarked areas – two sites in Inverness, Scotland, and one in East Sussex.
The Home Office is also said to be considering offering people £100 a week to leave hotels if they can stay with friends of family in the UK. But charities say very few asylum seekers have loved ones living in the country.
A growing number of Britain’s landlords are choosing to enter into deals with Home Office contractors to house asylum seekers. But the Government has been warned it could heighten tensions in communities.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the judge’s decision on Tuesday was “a dark day for democracy and a slap in the face to the people of Epping”.
The senior Tory added: “A Labour Government has once again put the rights of illegal immigrants above the rights of British citizens.”
A Home Office spokesperson said the Government was “furious” at the level of illegal migrants and asylum hotels in use, vowing again to close the latter.
“Work is well under way to move asylum seekers into military bases to ease pressure on communities across the country.”
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