Bath's The Empire residents 'shocked' over repair bill for historic vaults

The Empire building looks over the River Avon and Pulteney Bridge

People living in one of Bath's most iconic buildings say they are "horrified" after being asked to pay £10,000 each for repairs to historic vaults in front of their homes.

The steel bars in The Empire's vaults are "severely corroded" and beyond economic repair, a report has found.

Residents claim they were not aware the vaults were their responsibility.

The dispute with the former management company, FirstPort, will be heard at a tribunal in November.

Member of the Empire Owners Residents Association and committee, Stan Kolaczkowski, said the vaults have been "severely neglected" for years.

An emeritus professor at The University of Bath, Mr Kolaczkowski explained that they are in front of the building, beneath the pavement.

"It's only when the letter arrived from the freeholder, Bath and North East Somerset Council, informing Adriatic land [the head lessor] that the vaults were in a state of disrepair and there was a need to do urgent action that we found out about it," he added.

Stan Kolaczkowski said the situation was taking advantage of elderly residents

The grade II-listed building, constructed in 1901, had been The Empire Hotel before being used by the Admiralty during the Second World War.

It was then converted into flats in 1996.

Residents believed the vaults were commercial, as the council had once explored making them an entrance to the colonnades.

Prof Kolaczkowski said: "It is the total unfairness of the situation and taking advantage of elderly residents living in The Empire.

"There has been no plan to collect money over a period of time towards the repair."

The Empire was built in 1901

The building had previously been managed by FirstPort but the residents took over management of the building earlier this year, forming a right-to-manage company.

The right-to-manage company has now told residents they may each have to pay £10,000 each for the vaults repair, with the commercial businesses also paying some of the costs.

Some flat owners said they have struggled to sell their flats because they could not say how much repairs were going to cost to potential buyers.

Sally Davis said she is concerned about the looming cost

Sally Davis, who has been living in the building for almost three years, said: "We've been trying to sell my mother's flat since February 2020, right now we're with the fourth estate agent.

"People think there is a problem, which there is - the vaults - but also post pandemic people did not want to live in communal spaces.

"The whole roof has just been done which costs thousands.

"So each apartment had to pay a very large sum of money because of that and now we've got this additional expense looming."

The vaults need extensive repairs

The council say although they own the freehold they have "no liability" or role in the building's management.

Deputy leader and cabinet member for resources, Richard Samuel, added: "We are aware of an issue with the substructure of the building and wherever possible we are supporting the residents' appointed engineers with their investigations."

The Empire building is one of Bath's most iconic buildings

Adriatic Land 3, which has a 125-year lease on the building, said while it appreciated the residents' frustration, the dispute is between the former management company, FirstPort, and the residents' own Right to Manage company.

"A decision on responsibility for maintenance and repair will be determined by an independent expert First Tier Property Tribunal - this Tribunal has already stated though that Adriatic should not be a party to the dispute."

A spokesperson for FirstPort said: "As this is an ongoing legal dispute, it's not appropriate for us comment at this stage."

Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [e-mail]