UK Landlord Forum / Life

Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, two of the most popular state-owned tourist attractions in the country, require at least £20 million to be spent on new roofs and updated heating systems.

The Queen, who is renowned for being thrifty in her personal expenditure, has averted a cash crisis within the Royal Household.

The £15 million annual grant from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which is responsible for the upkeep of the buildings, has been frozen for three years.

By 2010, when it is next due to be renegotiated, it will have not have been increased for 10 years, which officials in the Royal Household claim is a 70 per cent fall in real terms. "We will be asking for more help," said a Buckingham palace spokeswoman.

In the last round of negotiations, ministers who are under pressure from the Treasury to rein in public spending, refused to increase the grant even though there is now a £32 million backlog of repairs which is growing every month.

Buckingham Palace needs a new roof and the State rooms have not been redecorated properly since the Queen came to the thrown.


How the other half live...people are struggling to pay mortgages, and the Queen is having a panic attack because her stately rooms needs decorating.

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