Kemi Badenoch has urged Conservative-controlled councils to consider legal challenges against the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, citing a High Court ruling in Epping. The High Court granted a temporary injunction to stop migrants being accommodated at The Bell Hotel, ordering about 140 asylum seekers to be moved by 12 September. Councils across England are weighing similar actions while ministers prepare contingency housing plans. Hotel use for asylum seekers rose sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic, peaking at 56,042 in 2023; numbers have fallen to 32,345 at the end of March. The Labour government aims to end hotel use by 2029.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is encouraging Tory-controlled councils to consider launching legal challenges against the use of hotels to house asylum seekers in their areas. Badenoch said Epping Forest District Council had achieved "a victory for local people", after a High Court ruling blocked a hotel from housing asylum seekers. In a letter to Conservative council leaders, Badenoch wrote "we back you to take similar action to protect your community... if your legal advice supports it".
A Labour spokesperson said Badenoch's letter was "desperate and hypocritical nonsense from the architects of the broken asylum system". The Labour spokesperson said under the Tories, "the number of asylum hotels in use rose as high as 400". "There are now half that and there are now 20,000 fewer asylum seekers in hotels than at their peak under the Tories," the spokesperson added.
It comes after the High Court on Monday granted the Conservative-controlled Epping council a temporary injunction to stop migrants from being accommodated at The Bell Hotel in Essex. The court ruled that about 140 asylum seekers must be moved out of the hotel by 12 September, giving the government limited time to find alternative housing. Councils across England are considering similar legal challenges as ministers to draw up contingency plans for housing asylum seekers set to be removed from the Bell Hotel.
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