Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Asylum hotel planning: Court of Appeal limits interim injunctions; preserve status quo/public interest; protests given little weight; council delay counts; late Home Office joinder permitted (England and Wales)

Published on: 03 October 2025

Published by a LexisNexis Planning expert

Legal News

Article summary

Somani Hotels Ltd v Epping Forest District Council (Secretary of State for the Home Department, intervening) [2025] EWCA Civ 1134

What are the practical implications of this case?

Going forward, in matters of this sort, the High Court is apt to permit the Home Office to be added as a party even when the request is made very late in the process.

The latitude for awarding injunctions of this kind on an interim footing—before the issues have been fully aired and determined at trial—is now limited. This follows the Court of Appeal’s clarification that:

an interim injunction is aimed at preserving the lawful status quo pending trial. In a situation like this, where there is an ongoing (alleged) breach of planning control that has occurred intermittently over several years, it is preferable to maintain the status quo rather than for a judge at an interim hearing to stop the hotel’s use before trial. That approach also reduces the risk of injustice to those residing in the hotel who might otherwise face eviction at short notice
the Court of Appeal cautioned that the use of piecemeal injunctions by local...

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