Britain's Home Office (the government department responsible for immigration and asylum) could face legal action from hundreds of asylum-seeking families held in single hotel rooms, after a judge ruled that two such families had been kept in inadequate conditions for over three years. Deputy High Court Judge Alan Bates found that a Kurdish Iraqi family of four in north London and an Albanian trafficking survivor with two teenage sons in south London had been denied a "dignified standard of living," stating that placements beyond roughly three months were unlawful. With around 4,300 families currently in hotel-based initial accommodation, lawyers say the ruling sets a precedent that could trigger widespread claims unless the Home Office urgently moves families to suitable housing within that three-month threshold.