Parliament revamp could cost £40bn and take 61 years

The refurbishment of the Houses of Parliament could cost almost £40bn and take 61 years, under proposals presented to MPs and peers.

It's one option presented by the team working on the long-delayed restoration of the historic building, which is falling apart and costs £1.5m a week to maintain.

The team has also suggested moving MPs and peers out of the Palace of Westminster for up to 24 years from 2032, under a refurbishment plan that could cost as much as £15.6bn.

MPs and peers will debate and vote on the plan to develop these two options and the completion of initial works.

The more expensive option involves moving only the House of Lords out of the building while works that could take 61 years and cost £39bn are carried out.

Parliament's restoration and renewal team said a final decision on a single preferred option needed to be made by mid-2030.

In the meantime, the team has proposed initial works capped at £3bn over a seven-year period.

This work includes building temporary accommodation to support MPs and peers during future phases, and building a jetty on the River Thames for deliveries.

In a report setting out the recommendations, the R&R Client Board - committee set up to deliver the renovation - said "continuing in the same way is unsustainable".

The report said: "It will mean increasing safety and operational risks and will lead to an expensive managed decline of the Palace."

It added that the cost of delaying a decision is estimated at £70m a year.

"A decision is needed now on starting restoration work," the R&R Client Board said in a statement.

"Most of the building dates from the Victorian era and some parts are much older.

"Over the decades, its fabric and its services have deteriorated and require substantial repair or replacement. We are beyond the point where putting off these major works is sustainable."

But Conservative MP Sir Edward Leigh, who opposes the full decant option, said the proposals were "absurd".

"We should just repair the building like everybody else," he told the BBC. "We can do it in bits.

"We don't have to have a full decant. I don't think the MPs and peers, if they leave the building for 15 years, they'll ever come back.

"As far as the public are concerned, it's a complete and utter waste of money."

The restoration of Parliament has long been in the pipeline in Westminster. The parliamentary estate - which includes the House of Commons and the Lords - is crumbling and there are concerns about the risk of a catastrophic incident, such as a fire.

Parliament says there have been 36 fire incidents, 12 asbestos incidents and 19 stonemasonry incidents since 2016.

A parliamentary committee report from a decade ago warned that the Palace of Westminster "faces an impending crisis which we cannot responsibly ignore".

"Unless an intensive programme of major remedial work is undertaken soon, it is likely that the building will become uninhabitable," it said.

No action was taken for years but with falling masonry, lingering asbestos, regular fires and exploding toilets, everyone agrees the work needs to be done.

However, there is no consensus on the way forward.

Either way, taxpayers will have to pay for the works and pick up a bill that is expected to run into many billions.