MPs will have to move out of House of Commons for at least two years under multi-billion-pound restoration plans

MPs will be moved out of the House of Commons for several years under plans to renovate the UK's crumbling Palace of Westminster. 

 

A report, produced by consultants on behalf of the government, today put forward a number of options – but all of them involve the closure of both chambers for at least two years. 

 

The quickest, cheapest and most reliable option would be to completely quit the building, the report said. By fully moving both MPs and Lords out of the two chambers, the work would cost between £3.5bn and £3.9bn and take between two and four years, the report said. 

 

However if work was undetaken on a rolling programme around parliamentarians, it could take up to 32 years as well as costing at least £5.7bn for “a 'do minimum' outcome”. 

 

“This option is the least predictable in terms of duration and cost,” the report said, noting that it would still require both the House of Commons and House of Lords to close for two-to-four years, albeit at different times. 

 

“Users of the Palace would have to tolerate high levels of noise and disruption over a long period and there would be a level or risk to the continuous running of the business of Parliament,” it added. 

 

A partial move out would take around 11 years and cost anywhere between £3.9bn and £4.4.bn. 

 

The building was completed in 1871 and is in a poor state of disrepair, with crumbling walls and rusting features as well as asbestos-filled walls.