MPs To Move Out Of Houses Of Parliament

MPs will move out of the Houses of Parliament for the first time since the Blitz, while the building has a £4bn facelift, it is claimed.

Politicians are set to be relocated for six years while urgent renovation work is carried out at the 19th century Palace of Westminster, according to a leaked report.

Papers seen by The Times reveal a committee looking at options for the work has ruled out doing it while the MPs are still working there - which would take five times as long.

Instead, they will relocate to the Department of Health where staff have already been told to vacate their offices. The building could even contain a makeshift chamber, the newspaper reports.

:: Bill For Crumbling Parliament Could Hit £7.1bn

But MPs may be dismayed to learn that Richmond House, where health officials are based, is leased in an Islamic bond scheme which forbids the sale of alcohol under Sharia law.

The Houses of Parliament needs extensive repairs

It is reported that MPs - who have an array of subsidised watering holes to choose from in Parliament - considered nationalising the Red Lion pub, a stone's throw from Parliament, but the owner Fuller's Inns opposed the move.

The bond scheme was agreed two years ago by the Treasury, during a drive by George Osborne to make Britain "the Western hub of Islamic finance" and attract investment from the Gulf.

Parliament's renovation has been a running sore for years, with the crumbling buildings suffering from leaky roofs, corrosion of pipes and guttering which has damaged the stonework, antiquated systems for water, drainage and electricity and periodic infestations of mice.

The former clerk of the Commons Lord Lisvane once called the palace a "cathedral of horrors", and a report last summer warned that a fire could spread rapidly through the building's corridors.

A cross-party committee on restoration and renewal was asked to assess three options. The first, a full move-out while radical works are carried out at a cost of £3.9bn, or more limited works for £3.5bn.

The second choice is a partial move-out, which would take 11 years and cost £4.4bn. The third option would allow the MPs to stay put - which would cost £5.7bn and the work would last 32 years.

Both Houses would have to vote on the option the committee chooses after the summer break, and if they back a full move-out, it is expected to happen in four years' time.

MPs have not worked outside the House of Commons since it was bombed by the Nazi Luftwaffe in 1941, forcing them to move to Church House near Westminster Abbey.

David Cameron and the former Leader of the Commons Chris Grayling were said to back the MPs staying put despite the higher costs, but new Prime Minister Theresa May's views are not known.

While MPs relocate to the Department of Health - the committee is said to have rejected suggestions to move them out of London - peers would move to the nearby QEII conference centre.

A restoration and renewal committee spokesman said the process had "not been been finalised", and could not say what would happen if the renovation plans were rejected in Parliament.