A British parliamentary committee has questioned whether Prince Andrew should still be living in a mansion on the Windsor Estate, west of London, in a rare political intervention sparked by the royal’s ties to US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew, 65, the King’s younger brother and second son of the late Queen Elizabeth, is under mounting pressure over his behaviour and ties to Epstein.

Earlier in October, he was forced to stop using his title of Duke of York.

In recent weeks British newspapers have questioned Andrew’s finances after the Times reported he had paid no rent on his 30-room mansion, called Royal Lodge, for two decades, but had funded at least £7.5 million ($A15 million) of renovations completed in 2005.

The Times cited a copy of the leasehold agreement, which it said stated the annual rent for the luxury home was “one peppercorn (if demanded)”.

In a letter published on Wednesday, the British parliament’s Public Accounts Committee raised concerns with the Crown Estate, which manages the monarch’s public property, and the government’s finance ministry.

The move could further increase pressure on Andrew to move to a smaller property. It also marks a significant turn because convention dictates British MPs do not criticise the royal family in parliament.

The cross-party parliamentary committee, which scrutinises financial accounts as well as value for money in public spending, said it expected a response “at the earliest possible date” and set a November 28 deadline.

“It is reasonable … at this point that the committee seek assurance that the rationale for the lease justifies the minimal rent charged,” the letter said.

“There is considerable and understandable public interest in the spending of public money in relation to Prince Andrew.”

Andrew, who remains a prince and is eighth in line to the throne, has a lease to live at Royal Lodge until 2078.

Earlier this week there were reports that he and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, who also lives at the mansion in Windsor Great Park, had agreed to move – but only in exchange for two separate residences.

A source told The Sun newspaper that Andrew had requested the former home of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Frogmore Cottage. Ferguson, meanwhile, may relocate to Adelaide Cottage after it is vacated by the Prince and Princess of Wales next month.

Prince William, Kate and their children — Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis — are expected to move to Forest Lodge, an eight-bedroom Grade II-listed residence in Windsor Great Park by next week.

“No one is really sure how it’s going to go down at the palace yet. Andy is willing to leave but these are his demands,” a friend of Andrew and Ferguson reportedly told The Sun.

-with AAP