Government heritage adviser Historic England warns MPs against delaying much-needed renovations
The Palace of Westminster could find itself on the Historic England’s “at risk” register for historic buildings if much-needed renovations are delayed, the heritage adviser has warned.
Ahead of a House of Commons vote on the timescale for works required to secure the future of the grade I-listed building, MPs were told that any deferral was inadvisable.
A spokesperson for the organisation said: “We have been advising on the state of the building’s fabric for some time and agree with the findings of the joint committee that the palace faces a variety of problems which require urgent attention.
“We will continue to work with all those involved to ensure the palace’s future is secured. It is our view that this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address some of the palace’s long-standing problems, as well as being a chance to open up more of this iconic historic building to the public.”
It is more than two-and-a-half years since a report commissioned by both Houses of Parliament was published looking at options for carrying out urgent renovation works that could take 30 years to complete.
Three options were proposed in the study put together by a team featuring Deloitte Real Estate, Aecom and HOK. They warned that work needed to start soon or the building would face irreversible damage. The June 2015 report added that the scheme would face cost hikes of £2m a week if work did not begin by 2021.
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