King’s estate collecting assets of the dead is ‘bizarre feudal remnant’, says Andy Burnham

Greater Manchester mayor is calling on government to launch consultation on Duchy of Lancaster’s use of bona vacantia

• How bona vacantia is used to collect money from dead people

The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, is calling on the government to launch a public consultation over the way the king’s estate collects money from people who die with no will or next of kin, calling it “a bizarre remnant of feudal Britain”.

The mayor’s comments follow revelations by the Guardian that the Duchy of Lancaster has been secretly using the funds, known as bona vacantia, to renovate properties owned by the king and rented out for profit.