Buckingham Palace reservicing nears completion after £369 million programme
Key Points
- Buckingham Palace reservicing due to complete March 2027
- £369 million budget approved by HM Treasury in 2016
- Final £40.3 million tranche allocated in 2026-27
- Programme began in 2017, updating wartime-era services
- Completion enables Sovereign Grant cut from 2027-28
The ten-year programme to reservice Buckingham Palace is due for completion in March 2027, with a final £40.3 million tranche of funding allocated in 2026-27, according to the Royal Household’s Report on Royal Finances published on Thursday (25 June).
The works update the Palace’s plumbing, electrical cabling and heating, which had not been replaced since shortly after the Second World War.
The Royal Household said the programme is replacing the ageing core services to mitigate the risk of catastrophic failure leading to fire or flood. The reservicing began in 2017.
Treasury approved a budget of £369 million in 2016 to deliver the phased programme, following an Outline Business Case.
The funding was provided through a temporary increase in the Sovereign Grant, after the Royal Trustees concluded at the 2016 review that the percentage used to calculate the Grant should be raised to fund the work.
In July 2024, the National Audit Office conducted a value-for-money audit of progress on the programme, assessing its set-up, progress and plans to manage risk and deliver benefits.
The audit found that while risks remained to overall value for money, particularly given the backloading of work onto the final two years and the limited unallocated contingency remaining, the Household continued to manage risks effectively and its approach should set it up to deliver good value for money.
If additional funding is required, any shortfall will be met from the Sovereign Grant Reserve.
Buckingham Palace is one of the Occupied Royal Palaces maintained through the Sovereign Grant, alongside St James’s Palace, the residential and office areas of Kensington Palace, the Royal Mews and Royal Paddocks at Hampton Court, Windsor Castle and buildings in the Home and Great Parks at Windsor.
The Royal Trustees noted that future spending plans include planned maintenance work on the Occupied Royal Palaces to address a backlog, the replacement of ageing legacy systems to strengthen cyber-security, and the installation of energy-efficient heating systems.
