Legal costs in asylum seeker hotel case hit £566k

Fighting to stop asylum seekers being housed at The Bell Hotel in Epping has cost a council £566,000, the BBC can reveal.

Conservative-led Epping Forest District Council ultimately lost its legal battle at the High Court in November.

A spokeswoman said it continued to contest this decision "in the interests of local residents" of the Essex town.

Calls to shut The Bell Hotel intensified in summer 2025, after an asylum seeker living there was arrested and later jailed for sexual offences.

The legal bill represents 2.64% of the local authority's £21.4m budget for the 2026/27 financial year.

It returned to court on Thursday as it attempted to appeal against the High Court ruling.

Lawyers for the council have argued Somani Hotels Ltd, which owned The Bell Hotel, breached planning laws by housing asylum seekers.

Part of its £566,000 legal bill included costs awarded to the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and to Somani Hotels Ltd, amounting to £66,000 and £95,000 respectively.

However, the council spokeswoman said it was "completely unfair" to award costs to Mahmood, saying it was the Home Office's policies "that led to the appalling incidents" in Epping.

"[Legal action] was not taken against the Home Office, despite their wholly unsuitable use of the hotel for asylum seeker accommodation," she said.

"This was demonstrated by a number of serious offences committed by its occupants last year."

Another migrant at the hotel was jailed for 16 weeks for attacking hotel staff.

Local authorities in England are primarily funded by council tax, government grants and business rates, but also raise income themselves via companies and some service charges.

The spokeswoman added the £566,000 fee, revealed via a Freedom of Information request made by the BBC and accurate as of February, was an estimate.

Jon Whitehouse, leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council, said the Conservative administration had been "reckless" in its spending.

He accused it of throwing money at the courts, "rather than going through the normal planning enforcement process".

"This legal action has dragged on for months, cost hard-pressed local residents a fortune and we still have no clear outcome," Whitehouse said.

"Even if successful, the taxpayer will be landed with an enormous bill."

A wave of protests were staged in Epping during summer 2025 after asylum seeker Hadush Kebatu sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman in the town.

He was mistakenly released by HMP Chelmsford in October, before being re-arrested and deported.

At court on Thursday, Epping Forest District Council sought leave to challenge the High Court judge's decision at the Court of Appeal.

Two judges are due to issue their decision at a later date.

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