The Court of Appeal on 29 August overturned a High Court injunction that had ordered the removal of asylum seekers from the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex. Three judges—Lord Justice Bean, Lady Justice Nicola Davies and Lord Justice Cobb—found legal and logical errors in the earlier ruling, reinstating the Home Office’s ability to use the 60-room hotel to house migrants while a full planning dispute is heard in mid-October. About 138 male asylum seekers are currently accommodated at the hotel under a contract between operator Somani Hotels and the Home Office’s supplier, CTM. Epping Forest District Council had obtained the injunction on 19 August, arguing the use breached planning law and raised public-safety concerns after weeks of local protests. The appellate panel said the council’s fears were outweighed by the need to avoid incentivising further demonstrations and by ministers’ statutory duty to prevent destitution among asylum applicants. The decision spares the government an immediate scramble to relocate the group and removes a test case that officials feared could trigger similar challenges elsewhere. Politically, however, it sharpens criticism from opposition Conservatives and the upstart Reform UK party, which have accused Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour administration of putting migrants’ interests ahead of local residents. The Home Office has pledged to phase out hotel accommodation for asylum seekers nationwide by 2029.