High Court decision to grant injunction for asylum hotel could trigger wider council challenges, KC suggests

Mr Justice Eyre granted Epping's interim application on Tuesday (19 August), after the local authority argued that placing asylum seekers at the Bell Hotel amounted to a material change of use.

In Epping Forest District Council v Somani Hotels Ltd [2025] EWHC 2183 (KB), Eyre J said there was sufficient evidence that there had been a material change of use and thus a breach of planning control.

He found that the balance of convenience was in favour of the grant of interim relief, in light of the public interest in enforcing planning control and the loss of amenity of local residents.

Another factor in favour was that, the hotel operator “acted in good faith but chose to take its stand on the position that there was no material change of use”, the judge said.

On this point, he added: “The Defendant did so in the knowledge the Claimant as local planning authority took a different view and believed that permission was necessary.

“It thereby side-stepped the public scrutiny and explanation which would otherwise have taken place if an application for planning permission or for a certificate of lawful use had been made.”

Eyre J ultimately found that the factors against granting interim relief – the public interest in housing destitute asylum seekers and the financial effect on the hotel owner – were outweighed by the factors in favour.

Andrew Fraser-Urquhart KC of Francis Taylor Building told Local Government Lawyer that "one could easily see how these same arguments could be successfully made in other cases".

Commenting on the decision, he said: "The thing that stands out really about this judgment is that the factors which have attracted the greatest press interest were regarded by the Judge as being of relatively limited relevance to his consideration of the balance of convenience.

"The second thing that stands out is that the factors which the judge regarded as most powerful in support of the grant of interim relief are factors which were not really unique to the situation at the Bell Hotel, and therefore the transferability of this judgment to other authorities, other cases seems to me to be pretty high."

It is "quite likely" that the judgment would be used in support of more applications for interim relief, Fraser-Urquhart KC added.

His comments come as Broxbourne Borough Council and Spelthorne District Council both announced that they have sought legal advice after Eyre J's decision.

A spokesperson for Broxbourne confirmed it is seeking legal advice in relation to a hotel in its area "as a matter of urgency" on Wednesday (20 August).

The council said it is considering whether to pursue action, despite earlier advice suggesting such a challenge would be unlikely to succeed.

Spelthorne meanwhile said it is now working closely with legal counsel in an attempt to oppose Home Office plans to change the use of a hotel from housing families and single women seeking asylum to accommodating single adult males only.

The council said it has obtained legal advice regarding the potential for enforcement action on planning grounds.

Elsewhere, South Norfolk District Council said the ruling supports its argument against the use of the Park Hotel in Diss as asylum accommodation.

The council served a planning enforcement notice requiring the hotel's owner to apply for permission to regularise the change of use from hotel to asylum accommodation earlier this month.

Council leader Daniel Elmer said Epping's interim injunction "shows that the High Court agrees with our position, that the housing of asylum seekers is a material change of use in planning terms".

Some party leaders have also commented on the decision, with Nigel Farage announcing that Reform UK-run councils would do "everything in their power to follow Epping's lead".

Writing in the Telegraph, he also encouraged the public to hold peaceful protests outside hotels used to accommodate asylum seekers in order to "put pressure on local councils to go to court".

Adam Carey