The Costed Proposals report is published by the R&R Client Board. It sets out costs, timescales, risks and benefits associated with the delivery options for restoring and renewing the Palace. It follows 2024’s Strategic Case which set out the approved scope of work and level of improvements to the Palace (i.e. what the work will seek to deliver), and the delivery options approved for further development (i.e. how the work will be delivered).

The R&R Client Board recognises the difficulty in committing upfront in the current economic climate (as envisaged by the 2019 Act) to specific expenditure totalling many billions of pounds to deliver an option which will take multiple Parliaments to complete. 

The Client Board is recommending:

• an initial package of "phase one works", committing to expenditure over seven years capped at £3bn or £429m a year on average (figures excluding inflation and annual costs will fluctuate). This sum is included in the overall costs for the options. The recommendation is in line with advice from an independent expert panel and informed by emerging best practice on staged funding for major programmes.
• further development of the full decant and enhanced maintenance and improvement+ options while the phase one works are delivered. This approach provides a genuine choice for the Houses at the subsequent and final decision on a single preferred option, informed by detailed design information, no later than mid-2030.

This choice means in one option the House of Commons and House of Lords decant while work takes place (Full Decant), while in the other option (EMI+) the House of Commons remains in the Palace and decant of the House of Lords is shorter than in full decant.

The approach draws on advice from an independent expert panel and is informed by emerging best practice on staged funding for major programmes. This protects the building while recognising the economic climate, capping costs now and providing opportunities to bear down on future costs by reducing the number of options to two and focusing on value for money.

Phase one work over seven years would include:

• Building temporary accommodation to support future moves of both Houses necessary under both options;
• Preparations for the restoration of the 500-year-old Cloister Court and refurbishing the inside of the Victoria Tower;
• Starting underground construction and tunnel shafts, and building river platforms for future construction work;
• Designing and building a standalone, off-site heritage collections storage and conservation facility;

The report and summaries

Read the full report online.

Large print and audio formats of the report are available from the R&R Client Board's publications page. A summary version is also available in standard, large print and audio formats.

Two additional versions of the summary - easy read and BSL - will be provided as soon as possible.

What happens next?

Both Houses will be asked to agree a motion to determine the way forward. If the R&R Client Board’s recommendations are agreed, phase 1 works would begin in 2026 and last for seven years. Additionally, if agreed by both Houses, the number of delivery options being developed would be reduced to two, and a subsequent and final decision on a single preferred option would be made no later than mid-2030, once more detailed design and updated cost, timescale and risk information is available.