Epping asylum hotel latest: Home Office wins appeal to house migrants at Epping

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.”

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”.

Kemi Badenoch has described the Court of Appeal ruling as a “setback” but called on those opposing the use of hotels to house asylum seekers to “keep going”.

You can read her full statement below.

Police have been pictured outside The Bell Hotel following a Court of Appeal ruling overturning a High Court order to ban, temporarily, the housing of asylum seekers at the Epping establishment.

Giving a summary of their ruling, Lord Justice Bean, sitting with Lady Justice Nicola Davies and Lord Justice Cobb, concurred with concerns expressed by the Home Office that a temporary ban would set a dangerous precedent.

The judge said: “We conclude that the (High Court) judge made a number of errors in principle, which undermine this decision.”

He continued: “The judge’s approach ignores the obvious consequence that the closure of one site means capacity needs to be identified elsewhere in the system.”

He added that such an injunction “may incentivise” other councils to take similar steps as Epping Forest District Council.

He said: “The potential cumulative impact of such ad-hoc applications was a material consideration… that was not considered by the judge.”

Quashing the injunction, Lord Justice Bean, sitting with Lady Justice Nicola Davies and Lord Justice Cobb, said: “We grant permission to appeal, both to Somani and to (the Home Office).”

He continued: “We allow the appeals and we set aside the injunction imposed on 19 August 2025.”

Now that the Court of Appeal has ruled against the High Court’s decision to slap an interim injunction on The Bell Hotel banning them from housing asylum seekers, we discuss below what happens next.

The Home Office now has the right to challenge the injunction.

This will mean that the 138 asylum seekers at the Bell in Epping can stay there until at least the further hearing in October.

The Home Office has won a court battle against an injunction stopping asylum seekers from being housed at a hotel in Epping.

The Court of Appeal has granted the Home Office permission to appeal the injunction and permission to intervene in the case. Mr Justice Bean said the High Court judge erred in his decision to grant Epping Forest District Council a temporary ban on The Bell Hotel housing asylum seekers.

Mr Justice Bean says that the High Court judge Mr Justice Eyre “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 added that the Court of Appeal grants the home secretary permission to intervene in the case.

Mr Justice Bean said: “The home secretary is plainly directly affected by the issues in this case, and specifically by the grant or not of the judgement to restrain provision for asylum seekers at the hotel.”

Lord Justice Bean has said that “this appeal is not concerned with the merits of government policy in relation to the provision of the accommodation for asylum seekers in hotels or otherwise”.

He said that “the temporary injunction granted in this case was to last for only a relatively brief period until a trial of the council’s claim, in which a High court judge will consider the application for a permanent injunction”. This is scheduled to happen in October this year.