Council issues planning contravention notices against owners of three hotels in its area accommodating asylum seekers

The Reform-led council, in its role as the local planning authority, said it “believes a breach of planning control may have occurred at the hotels and is in the process of serving the notices as the first formal step in finding out more information before deciding whether enforcement action is required”.

The hotel owners have 21 days to respond to the notice and failure to do is an offence under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

West Northamptonshire said that alongside actively collating the evidence it needs “for a robust legal case”, as part of its action it is also ensuring it follows the full process for using formal planning enforcement powers.

Cllr Mark Arnull, Leader of West Northamptonshire Council, said: “By accommodating asylum seekers, we believe these hotels may have a case to answer for breaching planning control, and these notices are the first formal step in allowing us to investigate further.

“The recent Epping Court of Appeal hearing highlighted the importance of ensuring the full planning enforcement process is followed if councils are looking to take action against the use of hotels in their area as asylum accommodation and that’s what we’re doing in West Northants.

“With the Home Office’s use of these hotels in our area placing an unsustainable strain on our local services and with residents continuing to raise concerns, we will look at using whatever powers we have to address these issues.”

West Northamptonshire had previously confirmed that Friday’s Court of Appeal ruling – allowing a Home Office appeal over the High Court's grant of an interim injunction to Epping Forest District Council – had not changed its course of action in relation to the three hotels in its area.

The Court of Appeal set aside the interim injunction after concluding that Mr Justice Eyre had made a "number of errors of principle" that undermined his decision. The final trial in the Epping Forest case is set to take place in October.

The full written judgment, which was published yesterday (1 September), is available here.

A government spokesperson said: “Since taking office, we have taken immediate action to fix the asylum system and have started closing down hotels and returning more than 35,000 people with no right to be here. 

“From over 400 asylum hotels open in summer 2023, costing almost £9 million a day, there are now less than 210, and we want them all closed by the end of this Parliament. 

“We will continue to work closely with community partners across the country, and discuss any concerns they have, as we look to fix this broken system together."