Houses of Parliament refurbishment

[ChevronB19]

Ok, this may well belong in Homes, Gardens and DIY but surely 7 to 13 billion is a bit punchy? And that’s just for ‘essential repairs’.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61526638

[frisbee]

Prime real estate. Sell it off and move them to a grotty industrial estate somewhere.

[Randy Winkman]

ChevronB19 said:

Ok, this may well belong in Homes, Gardens and DIY but surely 7 to 13 billion is a bit punchy? And that’s just for ‘essential repairs’.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61526638

Have you seen them fixing up things on The Repair Shop? It's like that multiplied by about ten thousand.

[bitchstewie]

Makes me laugh how there seems to be an argument over where they should relocate to.

Is there really not enough spare conference capacity in London or the surrounding area?

[glazbagun]

frisbee said:

Prime real estate. Sell it off and move them to a grotty industrial estate somewhere.

Lets see that trickle-down economy at work.

[nick30]

frisbee said:

Prime real estate. Sell it off and move them to a grotty industrial estate somewhere.

They may well be considering that. Thing is it’s a royal palace and obviously the heritage holds weight.

I read about the R&R in Hannah White’s new book - something certainly needs to be done but the costs would be eye watering and now is the worst timing.

[Ouroboros]

with the tech available, could do this from home, yet won't.

Edited by Ouroboros on Saturday 21st May 19:32

[ChevronB19]

Tom Logan said:

The asbestos removal project will swallow that.

Come on, it’s 20%(ish) of the entire nuclear decommissioning project! I really cannot believe it will cost that much in relative terms with the two examples given.

[FourWheelDrift]

Why don't they stay in their constituencies and spend more time doing good there and appear in a virtual Parliament on zoom calls. They can also stop taking expenses for their London houses as they won't be needed, saving public money. Win, win.

[bmwmike]

Turn it into flats and move them all out to birmingham or further north.

[The spinner of plates]

bmwmike said:

Turn it into flats and move them all out to birmingham or further north.

Yes it’s expensive to refurbish, but the punishment you suggest is disproportionately harsh. Nobody deserves that.

[Sheepshanks]

Randy Winkman said:

ChevronB19 said:

Ok, this may well belong in Homes, Gardens and DIY but surely 7 to 13 billion is a bit punchy? And that’s just for ‘essential repairs’.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61526638

Have you seen them fixing up things on The Repair Shop? It's like that multiplied by about ten thousand.

Well, Repair Shop multiplied by about 100 million.

[Chrisgr31]

It does seem an incredible amount of money, however the work does in my opinion need doing and should be done.

However it makes sense to vacate the building to allow it to be done in the most efficient way possible. Not wure there is any conference centre sitting around empty ready for them to use

[Gareth79]

Chrisgr31 said:

It does seem an incredible amount of money, however the work does in my opinion need doing and should be done.

However it makes sense to vacate the building to allow it to be done in the most efficient way possible. Not wure there is any conference centre sitting around empty ready for them to use

There have been plenty of opportunities over the years, either existing buildings which could be fitted out (eg. the London 2012 media centre), or areas about to be demolished where a temporary building could be located.

[Electro1980]

frisbee said:

Prime real estate. Sell it off and move them to a grotty industrial estate somewhere.

bmwmike said:

Turn it into flats and move them all out to birmingham or further north.

Grade 1 listed, a UNESCO world Heritage site and parts of it are scheduled. Its probably worth very little as real estate because you can’t change any of it and you have these huge bills to look after it.

[FourWheelDrift]

I'm sure there's something around Stratford built for the Olympics that could be reused. Failing that Tower Hamlets has a school no longer in use available.

[Murph7355]

Owning an old house I can well believe the costs of fixing that place up.

The money should be spent....but on converting it to tourist use.

Meanwhile, build something fit for purpose elsewhere in a place that needs the revenue - Jaywick or somewhere. Leave it there until its economy becomes self sufficient, then move it again.

[bmwmike]

Electro1980 said:

frisbee said:

Prime real estate. Sell it off and move them to a grotty industrial estate somewhere.

bmwmike said:

Turn it into flats and move them all out to birmingham or further north.

Grade 1 listed, a UNESCO world Heritage site and parts of it are scheduled. Its probably worth very little as real estate because you can’t change any of it and you have these huge bills to look after it.

So make it a tourist attraction like tower of London etc. £10bn is far too much to spend. Utterly bonkers obscene amount. Neither our institutions nor the building itself are worth that. Madness.

Eta funny how they find the money when they need it. Hypocrits.

[oyster]

Some very childish responses to this thread, many of which just seem to be virtue signalling.

National parliaments across the globe are places of grandeur and located in capital cities.

[Short Grain]

AFAIC any Government contract sees the costs escalate massively, so any figures quoted now will only go up! They seem to be a license to print money for the contractor chosen. A contract should allow for a set % increase and no more. Government contracts don't do this. Whoever negotiates them is either crap, or maybe 'brown envelopes' do still exist
I would've never signed a contract that allowed for seemingly unlimited increases over it's course, I'd have lost my bks, and deservedly so