The Conservative Party has stated that asylum seekers being relocated from a hotel in Epping should not be housed in alternative hotels, flats, or shared accommodation.
This follows a High Court decision granting a temporary injunction to a local council, effectively blocking the housing of migrants at The Bell Hotel in Essex.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has called for the immediate deportation of illegal migrants. In the interim, he suggests utilizing alternative accommodations such as former military sites or barges.
The government has pledged to end the use of hotels for migrant housing by 2029, aiming to achieve this by reducing small boat crossings and expediting asylum claim decisions.
However, when questioned about alternative housing arrangements, Home Office Minister Dan Jarvis declined to provide specific examples.
“There’s likely to be a range of different arrangements in different parts of the country,” he told the BBC.
Jarvis stated that the government is “looking at contingency options” for housing individuals being moved from The Bell Hotel, emphasizing that ministers never considered hotels a “long-term, sustainable solution.”
In June, ministers indicated that the government was exploring the acquisition of tower blocks and former student accommodations to house migrants.
The High Court ruling stipulates that approximately 140 asylum seekers must be relocated from The Bell Hotel by September 12, leaving the government with a limited timeframe to secure alternative housing.
Meanwhile, several councils across England are prepared to follow Epping’s lead by initiating legal action to remove asylum seekers from their respective areas.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has asserted that all 12 councils controlled by his party will “do everything in their power to follow Epping’s lead”.
He urged individuals concerned about the impact of asylum hotels in their localities to engage in peaceful protests, thereby exerting pressure on their councillors to take action.
A Conservative-led council in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, has also expressed consideration of similar legal action. The leader of Reform UK-led West Northamptonshire Council stated that it was “considering the implications” of the judgement.
Successful legal challenges could further intensify pressure on the government to identify alternative housing solutions for migrants.
In a letter addressed to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Philp conveyed that people are “furious” about the use of hotels to house migrants, while alternative accommodation options like apartments are “sorely needed by young people”.
He has urged the government to convene an emergency cabinet meeting to establish plans for the deportation of all illegal immigrants upon arrival.
Philp further stated that the previous Conservative government’s plan to send some migrants to Rwanda, which was stalled by legal challenges, would have made this possible.
He also called on the government to commit that none of those currently housed in The Bell Hotel in Epping would be moved into other hotels, houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), apartments or social housing.
Traditionally, asylum seekers were accommodated in long-term private rental properties. However, under the Conservatives, the government increasingly relied on hotels, which tend to be more expensive.
The Tories later sought to use ex-military bases as an alternative, including a former RAF station at Wethersfield in Essex, which has been home to hundreds of asylum seekers since July 2023.
But such plans have encountered strong local opposition.
The Bibby Stockholm barge off the coast of Dorset, which the Tories used to house asylum seekers, was closed last year after Labour took power.
Some local residents were concerned about the impact on local services, while refugee groups criticised the conditions on board.
There has also been opposition to using shared houses as this can put more pressure on local housing supply.
According to the latest Home Office figures, 32,345 asylum seekers were being housed in hotels at the end of March, down 15% from the end of December.
Numbers hit a peak of 56,042 in 2023 under the Conservatives.
The Home Office’s annual accounts show £2.1bn was spent on hotel accommodation between April 2024 and March 2025, down from £3bn, the previous year.
In recent years, other councils have taken legal action in an attempt to close asylum hotels in their areas but in previous cases judges have refused to intervene.
Conservative-run Epping Forest District Council successfully argued its case was different as the hotel had become a safety risk, as well as a breach of planning law by ceasing to be a normal hotel.
The judge ruled in favour of the council, which made the case there had been “evidenced harms” related to protests around the hotel, which had led to violence and arrests.
For other councils to follow suit they would have to show the High Court evidence of local harm.
Most Reform-led councils do not have responsibility for planning permission, which may limit their ability to launch legal challenges.
Home Office lawyers had argued the ruling could “substantially impact” the government’s ability to house the thousands of asylum seekers living in 210 hotels across the UK if other councils pursued similar action.
They also warned that the interim injunction risked “acting as an impetus for further violent protests” around other asylum accommodation.
Councillor Louise Gittins, chair of the Local Government Association, said it was taking stock of the injunction, adding: “We continue to stress to government that the Home Office must work much more closely with councils regarding asylum accommodation decisions and on improving the current asylum system in the long-term.”
The case returns in October, when a judge will have to decide whether The Bell Hotel has unlawfully changed how it is being used.
Epping saw thousands of people protest outside the hotel after an asylum seeker living there was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
Hadush Kebatu, 41, denies the charges against him.
A second man who resides at the hotel, 32-year-old Syrian national Mohammed Sharwarq, has been charged with seven offences.
Essex Police said the protests, which were also attended by those in support of asylum seekers, became violent on occasion. Sixteen people have been charged with offences relating to disturbances during the demonstrations.
Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond.
Linden Kemkaran says she has also written to the Home Office to urge them to be “more transparent”.
The hotel has been the subject of some anti-immigration protests over the past 12 months.
The High Court ruling follows an unprecedented backlog in people waiting for a decision on their cases.
Asylum seekers living in The Bell Hotel must be removed from the building by 12 September.
The Reform UK-led authority says there are three hotels used for migrants in west Northamptonshire.