Essex asylum seeker hotel in ‘flagrant’ breach of planning laws, court told

A hotel company that is housing asylum seekers in Essex is breaching planning controls in a “serious, flagrant and continuing” way, the High Court has been told.

Epping Forest District Council (EFDC) is taking legal action against Somani Hotels over the use of the Bell Hotel in Epping, with the Home Office intervening in the case.

A High Court judge granted the council a temporary injunction earlier this year that would have stopped 138 asylum seekers from being housed there beyond September 12.

But this was overturned by the Court of Appeal in August, which found the decision to be “seriously flawed in principle”.

The council wants a permanent injunction while Somani Hotels and the Home Office are opposing the claim.

In written submissions for a hearing on Wednesday, Philip Coppel KC, for EFDC, said the Bell Hotel has undergone a “material change” that is having a “significant adverse impact” on people living, working and visiting the area.

He said: “A person wanting to stay in Epping cannot book a room there. A person cannot even visit there.

“People staying there do not leave reviews on TripAdvisor. It will not feature in the holiday pages of any tourism-related publication.”

The Bell became the focal point of several protests and counter-protests in the summer after an asylum seeker housed there was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Epping in July.

Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, an Ethiopian national who arrived in the UK on a small boat days before the incident, was jailed for 12 months in September.

A second asylum seeker who was a resident at the hotel, Syrian national Mohammed Sharwarq, was also jailed for 16 weeks last month after admitting assaulting two fellow residents and two members of staff at the site.

Several others were also charged with offences related to demonstrations outside the hotel.

Mr Coppel said in written submissions: “A hotel contributes to the amenity of the vicinity – to those living and working there.

“It does not attract weekly protests and draw in unlawful activity. Its guests do not all sign up with the local GP surgery and otherwise avail themselves of limited community resources.

“A hotel is not encircled by Heras fencing.”

He also said that Somani’s “circumvention” of planning laws began in 2020 during the pandemic, when it “repurposed” the hotel to house asylum seekers.

Jenny Wigley KC, for Somani Hotels, said in written submissions that there had been “no breach” of planning laws and described the council’s decision-making process on this as “seriously flawed”.

She said the hotel reopened for three months in August 2022 but returned to housing asylum seekers after seeing its use had “greatly reduced”, while the restaurant and conference facilities did not reopen “due to lack of demand”.

The barrister added: “The hotel has been in financial decline for many years and was not a social hub in the community even prior to when it was closed for Covid in 2020.”

Ms Wigley also said the use of security fencing was “a response to hostile protests” and was not required previously.

She said: “The council was prompted to bring the application for an injunction solely as a result of protest activity commencing outside the hotel in July 2025 following an arrest made by the police in respect of an individual accommodated at the hotel.”

She added: “Other than an assertion by council officers, there has not been any determination that the use of the hotel for the accommodation of asylum seekers constitutes a material change of use in breach of planning control.

“The council’s assertion is a matter that is firmly disputed by Somani and the Secretary of State for the Home Department.”

The hearing, before Mr Justice Mould, is due to conclude on Friday.