APARTMENTS evacuated above Belfast's Victoria Square shopping complex due to safety fears have "further structural issues to be addressed", a report has found.
Residents were told to vacate the city centre flats earlier this year after damage was discovered along a structural column.
It is feared the overall repair bill, which was not covered by an insurance policy, will run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.
A new assessment report has been completed and its contents were discussed with residents on Wednesday evening, the apartment block's management company said.
"The report indicates there are further structural issues to be addressed within the building but the management company is not in a position to elaborate any further on the content of the report," it said in a statement yesterday.
"The matter must now be taken further through legal proceedings.
"This is an extremely difficult position for the management company shareholders who have not been able to reside in their apartments since April 2019."
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It said the cost of works so far has been "significant" and funded entirely through its shareholders, but declined to disclose the "confidential" sum.
Structural engineers were first called to inspect the building after the management firm was alerted in February to a "visibly evident" issue within two apartments.
It was recommended that 17 apartments along the vertical line of a damaged structural column would be evacuated.
In April, structural engineers advised for all 91 apartments to be "vacated immediately as a further safety measure".
Steel propping to stabilize the damaged column was completed last month and Belfast City Council's building control has inspected the works.
Monitoring equipment has been installed at locations throughout the building and on the props to detect any further structural movement, the firm said.
It added: "The forensic examination and the physical repair to the damaged column have not yet taken place and the repair project is ongoing."
The firm said the relevant public authorities including the Health and Safety Executive have been notified of the issues.
It said it continues to liaise with the owner of the neighbouring Victoria Square Shopping Centre commercial premises.
Victoria Square Shopping Centre has previously said it carried out a structural assessment for the shopping complex section.
"Based on this assessment, Victoria Square Shopping Centre is not affected and continues to trade as normal," it said.
"We continue to monitor the situation as the safety of our customers and employees remains our highest priority."
DUP South Belfast MP Emma Little-Pengelly said she would be seeking an "urgent meeting".
"I think ultimately the first issue must be that the public is reassured about the safety," she told the BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme.
"The apartments as most people will know are in the centre of town, they are in a very public space in terms of the amount of people shopping, working, driving through the city centre, so I think first of all people need to be reassured."
Alliance councillor Emmet McDonough-Brown said he has asked the council to examine "what it knows about the Victoria Square apartments in terms of building control".
"Residents are clearly very concerned that they are going to have to move from their homes and potentially have to fund substantial sums of money to repair damage to the building," he said.
