Moving prime minister Dick Schoof and his team of civil servants to a temporary home in The Hague during the renovation of the Binnenhof complex will cost €145 million, the government’s real estate agency has confirmed.

The Telegraaf newspaper requested the figure after the Rijksvastgoedbedrijf said last week that the prime minister’s department, known as the Ministry of General Affairs (Algemene Zaken), would move in to offices currently occupied by the ministries of climate and economic affairs in May.

The building, dubbed a “sort of palace” by one anonymous official quoted in the Telegraaf, is being refurbished with a secure entrance, a kitchen and round-the-clock security.

“The reception of VIPs and parking of ministers’ cars was an important reason for choosing this site on Bezuidenhoutseweg,” project manager Ellen Gerrits said.

Schoof will hold the weekly cabinet meeting, which currently takes place at the Catshuis, his official residence, in a converted function room nicknamed the “new Trêveszaal”, after the traditional venue at the Binnenhof.

The prime minister will be based in the temporary offices for at least three years until the renovation of the parliamentary complex is finished.

24-hour operation

A spokesman for the agency confirmed that the kitchen was being upgraded to be able to provide round-the-clock catering. “The ministry of general affairs is a 24-hour operation which regularly receives heads of government and other gatherings, such as the ministerial council, which need to be catered for,” the spokesman said.

It is the second time in six months that Schoof has had to move offices. He reluctantly left the torentje (“little tower”), his office next to the Mauritshuis museum, in September on the orders of the mayor of The Hague, Jan van Zanen.

The mayor said the building did not meet fire safety standards and said the government would be fined €100,000 a week if it failed to leave the premises before the deadline.

He overruled the prime minister’s protestations that rushing the move could compromise digital security, saying “the physical safety of people in and around the Binnenhof complex always comes first.”

Since then Schoof and a core team of civil servants at Algemene Zaken have been working from offices in the justice ministry.

The total cost of renovating the Binnenhof, a project that began in 2021, is currently estimated at €2 billion, while the deadline has already been extended by two years.