Almost 30 councils considering options over asylum hotels after Epping ruling

The government has promised to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of this parliament, – despite figures rising under Labour’s watch, ITV News Political Correspondent Shehab Khan and North of England reporter Amy Welch explain.

Almost 30 councils are considering whether to take legal action or monitoring developments over asylum hotels after the Epping High Court ruling, ITV News understands.

Included in the 28 local authorities considering next steps are eight Labour-run councils – placing further pressure on Sir Keir Starmer’s government.

The High Court ruled on Tuesday that asylum seekers should be removed from the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, after a challenge from the local Conservative council, following a wave of anti-migrant protests.

While Reform UK says that all 12 of the councils it controls are considering legal action around asylum hotels, three of those councils do not currently have any hotels being used to accommodate asylum seekers.

A number of Conservative councils are also considering legal action over hotels, but leader Kemi Badenoch has called for more to follow Epping Forest.

In a letter to Tory councils, Badenoch said she was “encouraging” other local authorities to “take the same steps” as Epping Council, “if your legal advice supports it.”

Labour dismissed her letter as “desperate and hypocritical nonsense,” but several of its own local councils have already suggested they could mount legal action of their own against asylum hotels in their areas.

Kemi Badenoch met with parents in Epping earlier this month to discuss their concerns over migrant hotels. / Credit: PA

In her letter, Badenoch praised Epping Council’s legal challenge and told Tory councils she would “back you to take similar action to protect your community.”

While she added the situation would “depend on individual circumstances of the case,” she went on to suggest Tory councils could pursue “other planning enforcement options.”

She also accused Labour of “trying to ram through such asylum hotels without consultation and proper process,” saying the government had reopened the Bell Hotel as asylum accommodation after the Conservatives had closed it.

Immigration data released on Thursday also showed the number of asylum seekers living in UK hotels has risen by 8% under Labour compared to the same point last year, despite falling slightly since March this year.

The latest Home Office data, published on Thursday as part of the usual quarterly immigration statistics, covers Labour’s first year in office.

They show there were 32,059 asylum seekers in UK hotels by the end of June.

This was up from 29,585 at the same point a year earlier, when the Conservatives were still in power, but down slightly on the 32,345 figure at the end of March.

The government has promised to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of this parliament.

The latest number is still below the peak of 56,042 asylum seekers in hotels at the end of September 2023 under the Tories.

A total of 43,000 people came to the UK by small boat in the last year, an increase of 38% on the previous year, but slightly lower than the peak in arrivals at 46,000 in 2022.

The Bell Hotel in Epping had previously been used as asylum accommodation briefly in 2020 and then between 2022 and 2024 under the previous Conservative government.

Epping secured a temporary injunction from the High Court on Tuesday, blocking the use of the Essex town’s Bell Hotel as accommodation for asylum seekers on planning grounds.

The decision has prompted councils controlled by Labour, the Conservatives and Reform UK to investigate whether they could pursue a similar course of action.

These include Labour-run Tamworth and Wirral councils, Tory-run Broxbourne and East Lindsey councils and Reform’s Staffordshire and West Northamptonshire councils.

There were several protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping before the injunction was issued by the High Court. / Credit: PA

But Labour’s Newcastle City Council and Brighton and Hove City Council have both ruled out legal action.

Tuesday’s High Court decision has also caused difficulty for the Home Office, which has a legal duty to house destitute asylum seekers while their claims are being dealt with.

If planning laws prevent the government from using hotels, ministers will face a scramble to find alternative accommodation, potentially in the private rented sector.

A Labour spokesperson said Mrs Badenoch’s letter was a “pathetic stunt” and “desperate and hypocritical nonsense from the architects of the broken asylum system,” saying there were now “20,000 fewer asylum seekers in hotels than at their peak under the Tories.”