Key facts
- The Commons public accounts committee said urgent action was needed to avoid a major fire or similar disaster at the Palace of Westminster.
- The committee said maintenance costs were about £1.5 million a week and were expected to reach £2 million without action.
- The committee said every year of inaction added an estimated £420 million to the restoration programme.
- The committee said a full decant would last up to 24 years and cost about £15.6 billion.
- The committee said a staged decant would last 38 to 61 years and cost about £39.2 billion.
- A parliament spokesperson said the report provides welcome scrutiny and that safety work was already happening across the estate.
The Palace of Westminster will be at risk of a Notre Dame-style fire or a similar catastrophic event if MPs do not tackle funding for refurbishments, the cross-party Commons public accounts committee said in a report published on November 4, 2026. Decisions on how and when to begin a full restoration of the Grade I-listed building, a Unesco world heritage site, have been repeatedly delayed amid disagreement over how it should be done and rising costs.
The committee said maintenance of the estate cost about £1.5 million a week and was expected to reach £2 million without action. It said every year of inaction added an estimated £420 million to the restoration programme, and that a recent estimate put the work at as much as £40 billion and potentially lasting six decades.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, said there had been a political allergy to making decisions. He said MPs should consider the impact of global rolling news footage of Notre Dame-like flames licking out of the building's roof, resulting in the destruction of heritage or worse, injuries or loss of life. He said these were not notional possibilities, but real and rising risks.
The Victorian estate has been beset by problems barely kept in check by ongoing maintenance, including regular plumbing failures, leaking roofs, crumbling masonry protected by scaffolding and a persistent risk of fire, mainly from outdated electrics, necessitating 24-hour fire patrols.
The committee said it was not its role to recommend a particular programme but urged action and made recommendations to improve the process. It said the clerks of the Commons and the Lords should set out a plan within six months to engage parliamentarians, and recommended more robust cost estimates and a timetable to help a decision on the main project in 2030. It called the current governance far too complex and recommended a new restoration and renewal select committee.
Four refurbishment proposals have been narrowed to two. A full decant would involve staff moving to buildings on the north side of the estate, with the Commons in Richmond House and the Lords in the QEII conference centre, lasting up to 24 years and costing about £15.6 billion. A staged decant would last 38 to 61 years and involve the Commons moving to the Lords chamber for up to two years, costing about £39.2 billion.
The committee said it was particularly worried about temporary accommodation, calling the £417 million estimate to refurbish the QEII centre and a bill of about £2 billion to set up the northern part of the estate for a decant very high. It noted that Canada had installed a temporary chamber for much less. A parliament spokesperson said the report provides welcome scrutiny and that work was already happening across the estate to ensure the safety of those working and visiting.