Council cannot appeal asylum seeker hotel ruling

A council cannot appeal against a High Court decision that allowed asylum seekers to remain at a hotel in Essex, judges have ruled.

Epping Forest District Council wanted to challenge the ruling regarding The Bell Hotel at the Court of Appeal, saying its owner had flouted planning rules.

The Conservative-led authority had spent £566,000 fighting the case since August and, reacting to the judges' decision, leader Chris Whitbread said he would not seek any further legal action.

Thousands of people protested outside the hotel in Epping during summer 2025 after a migrant living there was arrested and later jailed for sexual offences, including against a 14-year-old girl.

Court of Appeal judges said there was a public interest in the hotel being used "to meet the continuing need for asylum seeker accommodation".

Whitbread told the BBC he was "very disappointed" with their decision and pledged to seek other enforcement routes away from court.

"It's the end of the legal action; it's not the end of our attempts to get the hotel closed and we will continue working on behalf of the residents of Epping Forest to do that," he added.

Lawyers for the authority had accused Somani Hotels Ltd, which owns The Bell Hotel, of "sidestepping" planning laws by letting asylum seekers stay there.

But in November, Mr Justice Mould said there was a continuing need to house migrants with pending asylum claims, "so that the Home Secretary can fulfil her statutory duties".

He also said imposing an injunction would not be "an appropriate means of enforcing planning control".

In Friday's ruling, Lady Justice Andrews and Lord Justice Holgate said the High Court judge did not "duck the issue" related to planning law and the council's appeal was "unarguable".

They said Mould had carefully analysed the impact of protests and community tension in Epping.

"We are not concerned with the merits of government policy in relation to the provision of accommodation for asylum seekers, in hotels or otherwise," the judges added.

"Such matters are for ministers and Parliament, not the court, even if they give rise to public concern, controversy or protest."

The Bell Hotel has been housing asylum seekers in spells since May 2020 and has described this as a financial lifeline.

It sought planning permission for a "temporary change of use" in February 2023, but withdrew this on the advice of the Home Office in spring 2025.

The judges said the council had "long been able to use ordinary enforcement powers" and that an injunction was not justified.

A decision to award costs to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Somani Hotels Ltd, amounting to £66,000 and £95,000 respectively, was also made legitimately, they ruled.

Epping Forest District Council successfully sought a temporary injunction blocking the use of The Bell Hotel in August, claiming it was in breach of planning rules.

But this was overturned by the Court of Appeal, which found the decision to be "seriously flawed in principle" in November.

This decision was then upheld by different judges at the same court on Friday.

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