Four months on, the owners of the Royal Albion have yet to pay a single penny towards the half a million plus cost of demolishing the fire-ravaged Albion Hotel.
Brighton and Hove City Council have taken on the task as leaving it in such a dangerous state would have meant its neighbours not being able to return for many months, and the long-term closure of the seafront road.
As it is, people living in Lace House immediately next to the listed hotel are still not able to return as the task has had to be done painstakingly slowly.
Up until this month, workers have had to dismantle the building by hand, from cages lifted by cherry pickers.
Brighton and Hove City Council today confirmed the hotel group has not yet paid any of the invoices it has been sent.
Council leader Bella Sankey said: “Our council has acted swiftly and responsibly in securing the Royal Albion hotel following the devastating fire and making the area safe for residents, businesses and visitors.
“We have not so far had any payments from Britannia Hotels for the work we have undertaken to make their building safe.
“They have required that each item is assessed by their finance team. But they have not confirmed when this process will be undertaken, despite being asked to ensure prompt payment.
“We await confirmation of when they will pay us. But we are billing Britannia for every single penny they owe to the council, and we expect them to pay this in full.
“This will include the extensive officer time spent in protecting the residents of our city and this historic building.
“I would urge them to speed up their financial processes and repay their debt to our city.”
The hotel caught fire on 15 July, and quickly ripped through the building.
East Sussex Fire and Rescue have conducted a preliminary investigation and confirmed it was accidental, and probably caused by a cigarette.
There are unconfirmed rumours a guest stubbed out cigarette on a crumbling wooden window frame, and the still smouldering butt fell into the cavity where it started the fire.
The council announced on 17 July it would be appointing a demolition contractor to rip down the unsafe parts of the hotel – which it was later revealed would cost at least £500,000.
Demolition began on 19 July, and Kings Road partially reopened on 7 August, fully reopening about a week later.
Work has been complicated by weather and by the need to preserve and record as much as possible of the listed hotel.
Heavy machinery could also not get close to the hotel in places because of fears the pavement could collapse into the basement, which stretches into Pool Valley.
This work is on the verge of being completed, and after that the lower floors can be demolished much more quickly by machine.
At this point, a demolition curtain – a barrier between the hotel and Lace House – can be put in place to stop debris falling onto Lace House.
Britannia Homes was approached for comment.
The owner of the Royal Albion receives an absolute fortune from the taxpayer to house asylum seekers in his disgusting rundown hotels.
I reckon that this debt will end up in the Courts. Britannia Homes don’t have a great record for paying for anything. Bad company all round.
The council took over the demolition which caused the main road to be closed more than a month longer than it needed to be. During the peak season the road was mainly used for security sunning themselves without hard hats. If the council left it to the insurance company they would have had to get the building made safe in days rather than months. The council should pay our tourist industry compensation. Even the pier lost money.
Very little work took place plus work stopped at 4pm daily , weekend nothing happened. It the council did not take over daylight hours could have been used to get the job done in days not months.
Clearly you’ve never dealt with an insurance company before. The council started the demolition immediately, insurance would have taken months. The hotel is responsible for paying compensation, perhaps you work for them? Or are you just part of the idiotic blame the council for everything brigade?
I had a security officer telling me I shouldn’t stand by the fence to take photos as the road was reopened..
My reply was “Yep I would be more concerned why you are not wearing PPE on a work site.. so you do you job, I’ll do mine thanks”
I’m aware of where the road was, and did a risk assessment.. Almost as good as the pcso who told people to move because the building could collapse (night of fire).. I offered her 100k if it did. There was no way that building was going anywhere
If they don’t pay the council should CPO the land (which is worth very little considering) and open a new public space
You may have hit upon a motive for the fire since there were pre-existing plans for one as part of Valley Gardens 3
Looking like the council will claw back the hotel this way they will probably end up owning it
It’s riddled with asbestos ffs iv got asmah copd so I avoid walking by the closest I get is using the Queens Hotel gym pool and sauna
The insurance company needs to cough up
Our council did not really think this through anything with the name of Britannia apart from Rule Brttannia is bad news even the general public of Brighton &Hove know the track record of this company whatever made our council foot this bill when we have second highest homeless number of people in the kind, we have people living in cramped poor condition,food banks running low as people who donated are unable to.Our local supermarkets are giving a lot of help with donations but this beggars belief our elected councillors are squandering our money in this way.
Can the Council not start demanding monthly ‘Progress’ payments towards the costs so far incurred? Sounds like the owners are playing for time. Call their bluff, demand say, £100,000 on 1st of each month and if it falls in arrears, sue them in the County Court. Time for B & H Council to get tough with their Debtors and take positive steps to recover our money-supplied by us ratepayers. Don’t let ’em get away with it.
Surely the hotel was insured ?
Bill the insurance company
The council took charge of the demolition but the demolition ended up being an overlong shambles, closing the seafront road far longer than needed, affecting local businesses badly and probably costing a great deal more than the £500,000 initial contract. And yes, the insurance company should be covering it, though whether they will pay out or not is another matter, since no definitive cause was found, despite the fire report. No explanation of how the fire got so out of hand and why there were so few guests in the hotel in peak season either.
I don’t know why you lot commenting aren’t on the council, you have all the knowledge and all the answers…… or are you all as full of the brown ,sticky smelly stuff as each other?
No but they do live here and see nothing going on and another potential loss for the taxpayers of Brighton & hove
Any updates?
Not surprised as Britannia Hotels is generally considered to be the worst hotel chain in the country with an appalling record for safety, hygeine and treatment of staff & guests. Plus their owner is a tax-avoiding non-domicile.
On the other hand, maybe this is the oportunity to finally provide the city with a decent Coach Station at Pool Valley? Every cloud…
High time for a Repairs Enforcement notice on the main hotel to get it up and running again as it was originally a separate building from the part which burned down, so will be the easiest to fix while the lost part could take years to rebuild.
In other news –
Brighton Council demands that the Royal British legion play for lost parking spaces (revenue) for remembrance Sunday.
Cars allowed to park for free in front of St Peters Church designated as a community area.
Message to council get your act together.
Why is it that someone can commit a minor offence and go to prison.Britania hotels are parasites who make all thre money ponsing of the goverment letting out there rooms there track record is not good the owner must be on the rich list.The council are paying for this parasite until the insurance cough up.What they do and how they behave is wrong and they should be prosecuted for there negligence,they will be fine god forbide anyone caught smoking a bit of weed.This should not be comming from the councils coughers the council has more responsibility to the people who live in Brighton.