The company that owns a fire-ravaged landmark seafront hotel have paid £500,000 towards the costs incurred by Brighton and Hove City Council to make the site safe.
The council is still in talks with Britannia, the owner of the Royal Albion Hotel, with the total costs understood to run well into seven figures.
The Labour leader of the council, Bella Sankey, shared the news at a meeting of the council’s cabinet at Hove Town Hall this afternoon (Thursday 20 March).
Councillor Sankey said: “I am delighted to confirm that Brittania hotel group have paid £500,000, the first of their instalments to the council to compensate us for the cost of work done over the past two years to ensure the safety of the Royal Albion hotel following the devastating fire there.”
Later, deputy leader Jacob Taylor said: “I’m glad we’ve received the first payment and I can assure residents that we will be pushing very hard to recoup all monies owned to taxpayers.
“It’s also worth noting the significant inconvenience caused to residents and businesses in the city centre.
“Britannia need to pay what they owe.”
Just over a year ago, Councillor Sankey said that that the costs incurred by the council totalled more than £1.5 million.
The council stepped in to ensure that the A259 seafront road could reopen safely as soon as possible, with businesses such as the Palace Pier reporting a significant dent in their revenues.
The road was closed again a few weeks ago when the council was warned that the scaffolding and part of the remaining structure was at risk of collapse.
No plans have been submitted yet to make good the site since the 200-year-old hotel was badly damaged by fire in July 2023.
I hope that there is accrued interest on the outstanding amounts as it has taken nearly two years to get anything from them and in the meantime services are being cut and New England House closed!
They’ll probably end up writing the rest off like they did with the i360.
No, they won’t. Why would they do that? These are completely different circumstances.