- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Fixing Westminster: Bill to Repair UK Houses of Parliament Could Cost 'Billions'

© Photo : PixabayThe Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster - Sputnik International
Subscribe
The Palace of Westminster in London, where British MPs conduct their day to day business, could cost "billions" to fix because the building is so old.

Also known as the Houses of Parliament where MPs sit in the House of Commons and Lords sit in the House of Lords, the palace was built by the River Thames in 1016.

Cleaning and maintenance of the Great Clock 2014 - Sputnik International
Get the Builders In! Parliament Faces 'Catastrophic Event'

It was then demolished by a fire in 1834 and had to be rebuilt in 1840, that's 176 years ago and now there's a really long list of repairs that need to be done to the historic building to stop it from falling into the River Thames.

The idea is that MPs and Lords move out of the Houses of Parliament while the work is carried out, work that is estimated to cost US$4.9 billion.

However, SNP MP Neil Grey, a member of the joint committee for the Palace of Westminster, says it could cost a lot more than that.

"My hunch is it will be significantly more than that once the full details of the project are gone through and once we get into the bones of delivering it."

​"Any DIY job on an old building always throws up problems. I suspect with a building like the Palace of Westminster, where you've had add-ons, removals and old-fashioned antique construction, you're going to find some pretty expensive pitfalls along the way."

© Flickr / UK ParliamentCleaning and maintenance of the Great Clock 2014
Cleaning and maintenance of the Great Clock 2014 - Sputnik International
Cleaning and maintenance of the Great Clock 2014

​Neil Grey told The House magazine that he could "almost guarantee the costs are going to be higher than £4 billion," and suggested that MPs consider leaving the Palace of Westminster permanently.

"My concern the whole way through the process on the committee was 'are we artificially crow-barring a parliament into an old palace at a premium?' I think that is borne out in the costs that we're looking at," he said.

So What Needs Doing?

Asbestos: basically needs removing from any post-war restoration work carried out in the building. Exposure to asbestos can be fatal.

Leaking pipes: the pipework in the palace is around 130-years-old as has never been replaced — or when it was, it was treated with asbestos.

Leaking roofs: installed in the mid-1880s, they're leaking and practically falling apart and desperately needs fixing as any leaks could damage the historic interior.    

Windows: and there's not just a few — there's 4,000 of them and most of them don't open or close and they're not exactly double-glazed.

Rats, and lots of them apparently. 

​Decaying stonework: the limestone used in the palace at the time was both cheap and good for carving, but now it's decaying and in need of restoration and cleaning.

​With the list of refurbishments growing — it's not really surprising the bill to fix them is too.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала