After decades of debate, MPs are still intensely divided about the cost of the work, whether they have to move out of parliament, and where their temporary home might be if so.
But after decades of debate, the organisation set up by parliament in 2018 to manage the huge renovation project has been scrapped.
Ongoing repair work to strengthen the roof and Victorian masonry is constantly under way and work has recently been carried out to restore the ceiling of St Stephen's Hall, for example , as well as the renovation of the Elizabeth Tower andBut the real challenge is in the vast, labyrinthine basement with gas and dripping water pipes jumbled together alongside a morass of electric wiring, telephone cables, and even a working steam engine which is part of the Victorian sewage system.
The palace is also riddled with asbestos - last year it emerged a leak during building work meant up to 117 contractors and staff had potentially been exposed. Conservative MP Sir Edward Leigh is sceptical of what he describes as the"ridiculous" estimates drawn up by the sponsor body. "If they did this to any other piece of legislation, there would be uproar," she says."I'm incredibly concerned.
She says the decision to undo much of it"seems a means to kick the situation into the long grass - it's disastrous.
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