MPS ‘losing appetite’ for £7bn revamp of Houses of Parliament

MULTIBILLION-POUND plans to renovate the Houses of Parliament look set to be put on hold.

The Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act last year established a statutory delivery authority to take on responsibility for the estimated £7 billion works on the dilapidated neo-gothic building. Parts of the estate date back to 1099.

It came after MPS agreed in early 2018 that the “best and most cost-effective way” forward would be to relocate to a newly built temporary chamber and offices on the site of Grade Ii-listed

Richmond House in Whitehall. Last month, an independent body was established up to set the scope, budget and timescale for the project, which had been pencilled in to start in 2025.

But The Daily Telegraph has learnt that a planning application for Richmond House to be demolished, submitted in November, is now unlikely to go ahead due to the Covid-19 outbreak. A source close to the discussions revealed: “The appetite for such a big scheme is significantly reduced. Almost no one is now in favour of it as it stands. Everything has changed now everyone has realised you can run a virtual Parliament effectively.

“The country is still being run with the vast majority of people working from home. There is inevitably going to be a review and a rethink. Not only is there going to have to be a change in the basic assumptions but tighter costs will be needed.”

A scaled-down programme of renovations focused on replacing mechanical and electrical equipment now looks more likely.

Earlier this week, a row erupted among MPS after Jacob Rees-mogg, leader of the House of Commons, insisted that politicians should return to the Chamber as soon as the lockdown is eased.

Conservative MP Robert Halfon, who is disabled and considered in an at-risk group for Covid-19, warned: “It cannot be a Darwinian Parliament. It is not a Parliament for survival of the fittest, it’s a Parliament for everybody.”