Three senior judges will deliver their ruling at 2pm on Friday on whether to overturn a temporary injunction blocking 138 asylum seekers from being housed at the Bell Hotel in Epping. The Court of Appeal decision will determine whether the landmark High Court ruling stands, with potentially major implications for the government's accommodation strategy nationwide.
Somani Hotels, which owns the Bell Hotel, and the Home Office are both challenging the interim injunction granted by Mr Justice Eyre last week. The injunction prevents asylum seekers from being housed at the hotel beyond September 12, after Epping Forest District Council claimed the hotel operator had breached planning rules.
Legal precedent concerns
Lord Justice Bean, sitting with Lady Justice Nicola Davies and Lord Justice Cobb, confirmed the tight deadline after Thursday's hearing. He said: "Because of the great urgency of this matter, we will aim to give judgment at 2pm tomorrow."
The Home Office argues the injunction creates a dangerous precedent that could trigger a cascade of similar legal challenges across the country. Edward Brown KC, representing the Home Office, warned the decision "essentially incentivises other authorities who wish to remove asylum accommodation to move urgently to court before capacity elsewhere in the system becomes exhausted."
Protest backdrop and charges
The Bell Hotel became the focal point of protests and counter-protests after an asylum seeker housed there was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl last month. Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu has denied the offence and has been on trial this week.
Another resident, Syrian national Mohammed Sharwarq, has separately been charged with seven offences, while several other men have been charged over alleged disorder outside the hotel. The hotel previously housed asylum seekers from May 2020 to March 2021, from October 2022 to April 2024, and since April 2025.
National political response
Other councils, including Labour-run authorities, have publicly announced their intention to seek legal advice over whether they could achieve similar injunctions for hotels in their areas. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage hailed the original High Court decision as a "victory" and indicated that the 12 councils where Reform UK was the largest party would consider legal challenges.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch suggested the migrants "need to be moved out of the area immediately", while shadow home secretary Chris Philp said "residents should never have had to fight their own Government just to feel safe in their own town."
Government accommodation crisis
The stakes are particularly high given the scale of the government's hotel accommodation programme. The latest Home Office data shows there were 32,059 asylum seekers in UK hotels by the end of June, up from 29,585 at the same point a year earlier.
Home Office witness Becca Jones warned the injunction "risks setting a precedent which would have a serious impact on the Secretary of State's ability to house vulnerable people." Piers Riley-Smith, representing Somani Hotels, argued the judge "overlooked" the "hardship" that would be caused to asylum seekers if they were required to move.
Sources used: "PA Media", "Evening Standard", "Daily Mail", "Express", "GB News"
Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
