West London council considering legal action to prevent the housing of asylum seekers in hotels

A West London council is considering taking legal action against the government over the placement of asylum seekers into hotels. This follows a High Court injunction won by Epping Forest District Council on Tuesday.

The Conservative-led Hillingdon Council is now weighing up its options. Council Leader, Councillor Ian Edwards told the Local Democracy Reporting Service [LDRS] that the council must first understand why the Epping case succeeded.

He said: “Our Head of Legal will be reviewing the interim judgement to determine if a similar case can be brought in Hillingdon. We need to understand fully why the Epping case has succeeded, where others previously failed, before we can determine if those differentiating circumstances also apply in Hillingdon.”

Epping Forest District Council won their interim injunction thanks to a little known planning law in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The Bell Hotel had planning permission to operate as a normal hotel, however once it was housing asylum seekers (usually for over 90 days) the court found this counted as a different use of the building.

By changing the use of the building without relevant planning permission is against the law. As such, the hotel should not have been used in this way unless the owner of the hotel had sought and been granted planning permission.

Hillingdon is one of many councils across the country considering whether they could mount a similar legal challenge aiming to prevent the housing of asylum seekers in hotels. As of May 2025, Hillingdon had 2,812 people receiving asylum aid from the Home Office living in hotels – 685 more than neighbouring borough Hounslow, which had 2,127.

As a port authority, Hillingdon takes in more asylum seekers than other London boroughs, with a large majority coming from Heathrow Airport. This hotel bill is then footed by the Home Office.

In an interview with the BBC earlier this year, Cllr Steve Tuckwell described the number of asylum seekers being housed in the borough as a “huge burden.” However, it is currently unclear where asylum seekers will be moved to should an injunction be granted, creating further headache for the Home Office.

Conservative Leader, Kemi Badenoch, has written to Conservative council leaders “encouraging” them to follow Epping Forest District Council’s footsteps by launching bids to shut these hotels “if their legal advice supports it.” Hillingdon is home to a substantial number of hotels, particularly nearby Heathrow Airport, although it is unclear how many are currently at risk of legal action.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast this morning, the Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Philp said: “I think these councils are, you know, sick and tired of having these asylum hotels housing predominantly young men who entered the country illegally in their communities. They want to see them closing down and that is why I think they’re rightly looking at legal action.”

At the High Court this week, lawyers for the home office warned that a temporary injunction may lead to “ further violent protests” elsewhere, following several demonstrations outside the Bell Hotel in Epping.

When asked about this, the Shadow Home Secretary said: “People are understandably angry about the Government, the Labour Government’s failings, the border crisis they’re presiding over. They do have the right to peacefully protest – I do stress the word ‘peacefully’.

“Peaceful protest is lawful, it is every citizen’s right to do that. Of course, if it isn’t peaceful, that is wrong and that should be dealt with by the police, but where protest is peaceful, people have every right to engage in protest.”

The LDRS understands that the Labour-led Ealing Council has no intention of seeking a High Court injunction against the Home Office which would prevent the housing of asylum seekers in hotels.