The Court of Appeal has opened the door for a High Court order stopping the Bell Hotel in Epping from being used to house asylum seekers to be overturned, ruling in favour of the Home Office and the hotel’s owner.
Epping Forest District Council won an interim injunction last week, when Mr Justice Eyre found that Somani Hotels had “sidestepped public scrutiny and explanation” by accommodating asylum seekers without planning consent. He said “the strength of the claimant’s case is such that it weighs in favour” of granting the injunction.
But Lord Justice Bean, Lady Justice Nicola Davies and Lord Justice Cobb ruled in favour of the Government on Friday allowing the Home Office and the hotel’s owner to appeal for the order to be lifted.
Reading the decision, Mr Justice Bean said the Home Office has a “clear statutory duty” to asylum seekers.
He added that the Home Secretary and the department is therefore “plainly directly affected” by the issues in the case.
Mr Justice Bean said: “The home secretary has clear statutory duties to asylum seekers under 1999 legislation. These include a duty to provide support to them and prevent destitution.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper arrives for the weekly cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street on (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)“Given these duties in addition to her constitutional role relating to public safety the Home Secretary is plainly directly affected.”
Mr Justice Bean added the provision of asylum seekers is a “national issue requiring structured response”.
Of the injunction issued by Mr Justice Eyre last week, the Court of the Appeal said an “erroneous” decision had been made to not to let the Home Office be involved.
Edward Brown KC, for the Home Office, told the court ahead of the hearing that the injunction would “substantially impact on the Home Secretary’s statutory duties” and “cause particular acute difficulties at the present date”.
Security minister Dan Jarvis said last week that the Government would challenge the ruling to enable the closure of asylum hotels to be carried out in a “managed and ordered way”. He added: “We have made a commitment that we will close all of the asylum hotels by the end of this Parliament.”
Police officers stand outside the The Bell Hotel, housing asylum seekers in Epping as protests are expected from far right groups. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP) (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images)The Bell Hotel has been the focus of multiple demonstrations in recent weeks, including protests by residents and counter-protests supporting asylum seekers.
The gatherings followed charges against residents of the hotel, including Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, and Mohammed Sharwarq, charged with seven offences.
The Court of Appeal heard that the injunction creates a “risk of a precedent being set”. Piers Riley-Smith, for Somani Hotels, said there were 138 asylum seekers currently housed at the Bell Hotel and that Mr Justice Eyre “overlooked” the “hardship” that would be caused to them.
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He said the “extremely high-profile nature of the issue” created a “risk of a precedent being set as a number of other local authorities are reported to be considering similar injunctions to address the use of hotels for asylum seekers”.
He added that the injunction is set to cause “the loss of accommodation for asylum seekers”, which would impact the Home Office’s ability to perform its legal duties, and that there was “no evidence where exactly they would go” if it was not overturned.
Barrister Philip Coppel KC, representing the council, said in written submissions that the case “sets no precedent” and that there was “no compelling reason” for the appeal bid to be allowed.
He said: “There was no error of law in the judge’s approach, and his decision, based on a carefully calibrated assessment of the relevant factors, was open to him. Notwithstanding the public controversy surrounding the judge’s decision, it was based on the conventional application of well-settled and agreed principles of law.”
The hotel previously housed asylum seekers from May 2020 to March 2021, from October 2022 to April 2024, and since April 2025.
Latest Home Office data shows there were 32,059 asylum seekers in UK hotels by the end of June, up from 29,585 a year earlier but slightly down on the 32,345 figure at the end of March.
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