Westminster Parliament building £7 billion to restore

[gregbrighton]

Independent story

Repairing the crumbling Houses of Parliament could take as long as 40 years and cost taxpayers £7 billion if MPs refuse to temporarily decamp elsewhere, a report has concluded.

An independent appraisal by industry experts set out the options for refurbishing the 150-year-old Grade I listed building, with the cheapest option - costing £3.5 billion - requiring MPs and peers to decamp to an alternative location for six years while repairs are carried out.


Wouldn't it be cheaper to gut the place but keep the facade and towers (like they did at the big Co-op here on London Road) and reconfigure the inside to better suit modern office and conference requirements? It could include housing/hotel for MPs and staff thus saving on expenses.

 

[Notters]

Move it up north for six years and see if they stop whinging about the government being based in London.

 

[Stat Brother]

Not the only one getting a refurb:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33250274

Will Liz have to move into a B&B?

 

[yxee]

If taxpayer money isn't spend on this then you really do know the government has gone too far with the backdoor privatization.

 

[Jerryatric]

A combination of the first 3: Taxpayer, PFI and Lotteryfunding.

 

[Gwylan]

Move government out of London permanently and open up Westminster to tourism imo

This. Moving the government to Manchester or Birmingham would completely transform the country. We're far too London-centric and this could be the impetus for massive change

 

[drew]

Move it up north for six years and see if they stop whinging about the government being based in London.

Some hope. They won't stop whinging about London and the South East until their house prices and cost of living are more than ours. Then they'll start whinging about that!

England is not a big country and London happens to be our capital. Like it or not, no other city in the UK comes close. It takes about two hours by train from Manchester, hardly an onerous journey.

 

[Notters]

This. Moving the government to Manchester or Birmingham would completely transform the country. We're far too London-centric and this could be the impetus for massive change

Would it? My argument has always been that it makes no difference where the politicians are based so long as everyone's represented.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

I can only assume there are people troll voting - who the hell voted for 'Demolish it' and 'Sell it off' ??

 

[beorhthelm]

for 7 bn you could pull it down and rebuild a replica with modern, more durable materials and have billions to spare. its a rip off price. no doubt heavily inflated as its listed and all repairs have to be like for like, so no replacing decaying ornamental stonework with fibreglass. for perspective, you could build an Olympic stadium with a shard in the middle for £1bn.

 

[Gwylan]

Would it? My argument has always been that it makes no difference where the politicians are based so long as everyone's represented.

What would happen is that a whole army of hangers-on would move too: the lobbyists, the consultants, the special advisors, the spin doctors etc - they'd no longer want to live in London. Government departments could move to, and that means a troop of civil servants would decamp north as well. And then there are lower-paid: the catering staff, security guards, attendants etc. Maybe newspapers would move out, certainly the bigger PR firms would.

Tens of thousands would move out of London, that would have a knock-on effect on house prices, which would have a knock-on effect on prices in the south-east,

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Tens of thousands would move out of London, that would have a knock-on effect on house prices, which would have a knock-on effect on prices in the south-east,

And a huge raft of unemployment in London and the South East .... nice !

 

[Gwylan]

I can only assume there are people troll voting - who the hell voted for 'Demolish it' and 'Sell it off' ??

Why on earth is voting Sell it Off, troll voting? As I said in my other post, we could move parliament outside London - you could build a new building with the money from selling off the Barry building - slapping a preservation order on it to keep it intact. It would be an instant attraction as a hotel and conference centre - London is sadly lacking decent conference venues in the centre.and parliament could function more efficiently in a cheaper and purpose-built building

 

[glasfryn]

portacabins are cheap...or work from home

 

[skipper734]

The money isn't really the problem. Persuading the pampered MP's to move out, so that the refurb can be done properly. is. Imagine trying to live in your house while it was being rewired, replumbed and the fabric being altered and rebuilt inside and out.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Why on earth is voting Sell it Off, troll voting? As I said in my other post, we could move parliament outside London - you could build a new building with the money from selling off the Barry building - slapping a preservation order on it to keep it intact. It would be an instant attraction as a hotel and conference centre - London is sadly lacking decent conference venues in the centre.and parliament could function more efficiently in a cheaper and purpose-built building

Because it's the seat of our government and has been for hundreds of years and should remain so - why would you want to sell off that history ? I know, let's just sell all our history because almost every historical building in use could be better replaced with a modern equivilent.

 

[Triggaaar]

No one should fork out the £7 billion.

If it saves a few billion to temporarily relocate the staff, surely that's got to be done? Once the we've established the best value solution, that should be paid for by taxpayers.

 

[gregbrighton]

portacabins are cheap...or work from home

Use Skype. Billions saved, no expenses needed, problem solved.

 

[beorhthelm]

...slapping a preservation order on it to keep it intact. It would be an instant attraction as a hotel and conference centre - London is sadly lacking decent conference venues in the centre.and parliament could function more efficiently in a cheaper and purpose-built building

keeping it intact is the cause of the problem and a preservation order doesnt make this any cheaper. if people are saying that its largely unsuitable for modern office/debating etc, why on earth would it be suitable to conferences?

 

[Gwylan]

keeping it intact is the cause of the problem and a preservation order doesnt make this any cheaper. if people are saying that its largely unsuitable for modern office/debating etc, why on earth would it be suitable to conferences?

That's true but it wouldn't be government paying for it - that's the point.

Having conferences in a suitably restored building would be a big selling point