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@wvm
Elija Otis will be turning in his grave!
I've been working alongside the lift trade for many years so know a fair bit about the industry although I'm not involved at the sharp end of the cost of new equipment.
The new lift side of the industry has got cheaper due to the effects of modern mass production techniques plus an influx of cheaper lifts sourced from overseas but it sounds like your telephone box on string will need a bespoke replacement made specifically to fit the exisiting lift shaft rather than a new build where lift shafts are built to British Standard sizes for given lift capacities and a cheap package lift can be easily sourced to fit.
Has the managing agent used a consultant and put the job out to tender to at least 3 companies? They may have just got a budget cost from a consultant at this stage.
I was involved in the renewal recently of all the lifts in an old mansions block in Streatham. The lifts were really small. This actually made a lot of the work much harder due to the limited workspace. Smaller isn't always cheaper.