Phoenix Hotel, North Weald

The Phoenix Hotel sits on the A414 between Epping and Harlow, several miles from the centre of Epping itself. Redbridge Council previously used the property as emergency homeless accommodation but withdrew, citing the remote location, lack of public transport and absence of nearby shops other than expensive farm shops. The site was subsequently brought into the Home Office contingency estate for asylum accommodation^[4]Press.

Your Harlow reported that a 9pm fire on 28 March 2025 in Room 9 of the Phoenix Hotel spread rapidly and ultimately destroyed an entire wing of the building, with ten fire engines deployed^[3]Press. An asylum seeker resident at both sites was later charged with arson with intent to endanger life at the Phoenix and the Bell Hotel in Epping and was found guilty after a Chelmsford Crown Court trial, with the defendant initially blaming the fires on ghosts.

Bishops Stortford Independent reported that five Essex Conservative leaders wrote to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper demanding the Phoenix Hotel and the Bell Hotel cease being used for asylum accommodation^[2]Press.

Brentwood and Ongar MP Alex Burghart and Epping Forest MP Neil Hudson published a joint statement calling on the Home Office to end the use of the Phoenix Hotel and the Bell Hotel as asylum accommodation, citing community distress and infrastructure pressures^[5]Council. North Weald Bassett Parish Council had already opposed plans to add 18 additional rooms at the Phoenix on road safety grounds in early 2024^[4].

At the £170 per person per night Migration Observatory benchmark^[6], an estimated peak of around 120 asylum seekers at the Phoenix implies headline taxpayer exposure of about £20,400 per night and roughly £7.4 million per year. That is above the May 2025 NAO contract review average of about £5.84 million per year per hotel^[7]NAO.