 While in the past both houses were private residences, today they serve as interlinked offices, with the occupant living in an apartment made from attic rooms previously resided in by servants.Since 1827, the chancellor has always simultaneously held the office of Second Lord of the Treasury when that person has not also been the prime minister.A previous chancellor, Robert Lowe, described the office in the following terms in the House of Commons, on 11 April 1870