Hotels housing asylum seekers: Wakefield Council ‘considering implications’ of asylum seeker hotel ruling
Wakefield Council is “carefully considering the implications” of the granting of temporary injunction blocking asylum seekers from being housed at a hotel in Essex, its leader has said.
On Monday, the High Court granted the Conservative-controlled Epping council a temporary injunction to stop refugees from being accommodated at The Bell Hotel.
The ruling has led other councils to consider launching legal challenges against the use of hotels to house asylum seekers in their areas.
Labour-controlled Wakefield Council has been lobbying the Home Office since 2023 and previously sought legal action over asylum seekers being placed at the city’s Cedar Court hotel.
Council leader Denise Jeffery said: “Using hotels to house asylum seekers is not appropriate.
“It places a significant strain on the local communities that live nearby. It’s very expensive for taxpayers.
“As the Refugee Council have said, it provides unsuitable accommodation for vulnerable people to live in.
“The government had a dire inheritance, with a broken asylum system and over 400 asylum hotels open at the peak.
“The number of asylum hotels has fallen to 210, and they’ve made a clear commitment to end their use in this parliament.
“But we want them to go further and faster.”
In 2023, Wakefield, Kirklees and Calderdale councils took legal advice to try to block government plans to house more asylum seekers at hotels in their districts.
The three authorities were told at the time that they were unable to apply for injunctions to stop the Home Office policy.
Wakefield Council took legal advice in June 2023 after being informed by the Home Office that it intended to increase the number of asylum seeker spaces at Cedar Court hotel, on Denby Dale Road, from 148 to 306.
The move came days after the council was also told that St Pierre Hotel, in Newmillerdam, would be used to temporarily accommodate asylum seekers.
A number of other hotels in the district have also been used to accommodate refugees.
Coun Jeffery added: “We want asylum seekers to be provided with more appropriate accommodation so that Cedar Court hotel in Wakefield stops being used to house them.
“The government should instead work with councils, housing providers, and local communities to develop a comprehensive plan to meet their needs elsewhere.
“We’re now carefully considering the implications of the High Court ruling to award Epping Forest District Council an interim injunction.”