Asylum seekers can stay at UK hotel after government wins appeal

LONDON

Asylum seekers housed at a hotel in the town of Epping, northeast of London, will be allowed to remain there after the British government won its appeal in a high-profile legal case on Friday.

The High Court had previously ruled that 138 men accommodated at the Bell Hotel must leave by Sept. 12.

However, the Court of Appeal overturned that decision, with Lord Justice Bean stating that the earlier judgment contained “a number of errors that undermine his decision.”

In its appeal, the Home Office and the hotel argued that removing the men could disrupt the wider asylum accommodation system.

Delivering the ruling, Lord Justice Bean said: “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 the injunction granted by the High Court “may incentivize” other councils to pursue similar legal actions against asylum housing arrangements.

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

The ruling means that asylum seekers will continue to be housed at the Bell Hotel, relieving immediate pressure on the Home Office's accommodation network.

Despite government promises to reduce reliance on temporary housing, 32,059 asylum seekers were staying in hotels across the country at the end of June, according to official data.

That figure is 8% higher than a year earlier, though slightly lower than the previous quarter and well below the peak of 56,042 in September 2023.