Epping hotel asylum case: what has the court of appeal decided and why?

"Somani Hotels challenged the decision at the court of appeal, as did the Home Office, which had been refused permission by Eyre to intervene in the high court case. The three justices said both Somani Hotels and the Home Office, which it permitted to intervene in the case, could appeal against Eyre's decision and quashed the temporary injunction in the meantime. Lord Justice Bean, sitting with Lady Justice Nicola Davies and Lord Justice Cobb, said Eyre had made a number of errors in principle."

"The judge's approach ignores the obvious consequence that the closure of one site means capacity needs to be identified elsewhere in the system. Other reasons given for overturning the interim relief were that Eyre should not have given weight in his judgment to protests, including unlawful protests, taking place outside the hotel, as that could incentivise further protests and further lawlessness. The judges said this risk outweighed Epping residents' fear of crime."

A high court injunction that barred asylum seekers from being housed at the Bell hotel in Epping and required rehousing by 12 September was overturned by the Court of Appeal. The court allowed appeals by Somani Hotels and permitted the Home Office to intervene and appeal. The justices found errors in the high court judge's approach, noting the need to consider system-wide accommodation capacity and that giving weight to protests, including unlawful ones, risked incentivising further lawlessness. The court also noted the hotel had housed asylum seekers since 2020 without enforcement action, and quashing the injunction avoids wider consequences for other councils.

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