The Home Office has won its appeal against a High Court ruling temporarily banning a hotel in Epping from housing asylum seekers.
Three senior judges in the Court of Appeal announced their decision just 10 days after the High Court imposed the temporary injunction on The Bell Hotel in Essex, following unrest.
Lord Justice Bean told the Court of Appeal that the High Court was “erroneously flawed” in grant Epping council an injunction against use of the hotel.
Quashing the injunction, he said: “We grant permission to appeal, both to Somani and to (the Home Office). We allow the appeals and we set aside the injunction imposed on 19 August 2025.”
The Home Office had argued that banning the hotel from housing asylum seekers would set a dangerous precedent for other councils to follow suit, leaving “asylum seekers potentially living destitute in the streets”. Lord Justice concurred with this argument.
The decision is likely to meet backlash from both Nigel Farage’s Reform and the Conservatives, who have been outspoken in opposition to Labour’s plan to slowly phase out the use of hotels to house asylum seekers.
Labour ‘using courts against the British public’, Tories claim
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp has accused the government of “using the courts against the British public”.
He added: “The government even brazenly said in court that the rights of illegal immigrants were more important than the rights of local people.”
He accused Labour of being “too weak” to take action over rising number of small boat crossings.
The home secretary had argued at the Court of Appeal that the Epping hotel injunction should not be allowed to stand because it would disrupt her statutory duty to house vulnerable asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute.
The Court of Appeal operates independently from the Labour government.
Today’s ruling ‘disregards the impact on communities’, Staffordshire Council Council says
Staffordshire County Council, which has previously threatened to bring similar legal action over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, has said today’s ruling “disregards the impact on communities and services across our county and the country”.
Ian Cooper, leader of the Reform-led council, added: “While the control and protection of our country’s borders is a national issue, we have made it clear to government that the ongoing use of hotels for the purpose of asylum is unacceptable and poses a risk to local communities as well as to those being housed in hotels.
“Community cohesion is a core priority for Staffordshire County Council and the continued use of these hotels threatens to undermine this goal.”
Farage blames ECHR for Epping ruling
Nigel Farage has claimed the European Convention on Human Rights has been “used” by the Government “against the people of Epping”.
The Reform UK leader said: “The Government has used ECHR against the people of Epping. Illegal migrants have more rights than the British people under Starmer.”
He did not specify which part of the case he was referring to, and the Court of Appeal judge that overturned the temporary ban on housing asylum seekers in The Bell Hotel in Epping ruled that arguments about a “hierarchy of rights” were “unattractive”.
The Home Office’s lawyers had argued “the relevant public interests in play are not equal”, referring to Epping’s interest in enforcing planning control on the one hand, and the Home Secretary’s duty which comes from UK obligations under the ECHR on the other.
However, Friday’s ruling says: “Any argument in this particular context about a hierarchy of rights is in our view unattractive.”
Epping council vows to continue fight against use of The Bell hotel for asylum seekers
Epping Forest District Council have said their fight will continue after the Court of Appeal overturned an injunction banning asylum seekers from being housed at a hotel in the area.
In a statement issued following the ruling, the council said: “We are deeply disappointed by the outcome of today’s hearing.
“While Epping Forest has brought the wider asylum seeker debate into sharp national focus, the concern and motivation of Epping Forest District Council throughout has been the wellbeing of our local residents. Where we had clarity and resolution, we now have doubt and confusion.”
They added: “This is not the end of the matter. While the Court of Appeal has lifted the temporary injunction, the case for the final injunction is still to be heard. Our battle on behalf of our residents will continue. A few weeks from now we will be back in court where we trust the strength of our case will still prevail.”
They urged the government to “take responsibility for the events that have taken place in Epping over the past six weeks – for the trauma and disruption brought upon our community”.
Home Office minister defends appeal saying hotels must be closed in ‘controlled and orderly way’
Following the Court of Appeal’s decision, Dame Angela Eagle MP, Minister for Border Security and Asylum has said that the government “will close all hotels by the end of this parliament”.
She explained: “We appealed this judgment so hotels like the Bell can be exited in a controlled and orderly way that avoids the chaos of recent years that saw 400 hotels open at a cost of £9m a day.
“The number of hotels has almost halved since its peak in 2023 and we have brought down costs by 15 per cent saving £700m and putting us on track to save a billion pounds a year by 2028-29.”
She added that the department was “working hard to relieve pressure on the system” by tackling criminal gangs who facilitate small boat crossings.
Jenrick issues statement on Court of Appeal hearing
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, who attended protests outside The Bell Hotel, has issued a statement on the Court of Appeal ruling overturning the temporary ban on housing asylum seekers at the Epping establishment.
You can read it, in full, below.
Home Office ‘cutting local people out of the loop’, says James Cleverly
Responding to today’s Court of Appeal ruling, senior Conservative James Cleverly suggested that the Home Office was cutting local people out of the loop.
The shadow local government secretary said: “I’m sure that Yvette Cooper and the Home Office officials think this is good news. It really isn’t.
“Cutting local people and their elected representatives out of the loop isn’t a good look.”
Court of Appeal Judge: Protesters must not be ‘incentivised’
Lord Justice Bean has ruled that protesters cannot be “incentivised” to demonstrate outside hotels housing asylum seekers, adding that the High Court’s injunction against The Bell Hotel risks doing exactly that.
He said the Epping residents’ fear of crime was properly taken into account by the High Court judge as a factor in favour of granting an injunction. He described it as being of limited weight.
But, he added: “We agree it is relevant, but in our view, it is clearly outweighed … by the undesirability of incentivising protests, by the desirability in the interests of justice of preserving status quo for the relatively brief period leading up to the forthcoming trial and by the range of public interest factors which we have discussed in our judgment.”
The Bell Hotel owners speak out after positive ruling
Following the Court of Appeal’s ruling, Lisa Foster of Richard Buxton Solicitors, which represents Somani Hotels, the owner of The Bell Hotel, said: “We are pleased that the Court of Appeal has ruled that the injunction should not have been granted by the High Court.
“Our clients realise that they have been caught in the middle of a much wider debate on the treatment of asylum seekers and respectfully ask that members of the public understand that the Bell Hotel has simply been providing a contracted service that the Government requires.
“We now ask that all associated with the Bell Hotel are left alone to continue to support the Government’s asylum plans as best they can.
“We are grateful to the Court of Appeal for appreciating the urgency of the matter from everyone’s point of view and dealing with the matter so swiftly.
“We have no further comment and will not be commenting on the matter again.”
Analysis: Definitive win for the Home Office
In their judgement today, three Court of Appeal judges roundly dismissed a decision by the High Court to allow an injunction over an asylum hotel in Epping.
The Court of Appeal judges agreed with the Home Office that the closure of The Bell Hotel would have “obvious consequences” on the government’s ability to house asylum seekers. They also agreed that a win for Epping council would “incentivise” others to follow suit.
Mr Justice Bean said High Court judge Mr Justice Eyre had “failed to have any adequate regard to the range of issues which would be likely to arise if the injunction were granted”.
“These include but were not limited to the significant practical challenge of relocating a large number of asylum seekers,” he explained.
Mr Justice Bean criticised the High Court for not allowing the home secretary to intervene in the case, saying Yvette Cooper “is plainly directly affected by the issues in this case”.
