Leasehold house insurance

Nuggy96

Hi,

I am purchasing a new build house which is due to complete in May. The house will be a leasehold, with £0 leasehold charges per year with the council owning the freehold. I am looking at getting building's and/or content's insurance. I have read that leasehold flats do not require you to get buildings insurance as the freeholder should pay for this. Is this the same case for myself with a leasehold house? Will the council pay for the building's insurance or should i pay for it?

Thanks in advance

AdrianC

Nuggy96 wrote: »

I have read that leasehold flats do not require you to get buildings insurance as the freeholder should pay for this. Is this the same case for myself with a leasehold house? Will the council pay for the building's insurance or should i pay for it?

No, not the same - you need to pay for building insurance.

Think about it - in a flat, you cannot insure the whole building, because you simply aren't responsible for the majority of it.

eddddy

With a leasehold house, the leaseholder generally arranges buildings insurance - because there is a well defined 'building' to insure.

Read the lease to get the definitive answer.

(Flats are different, because a single 'building' will usually contain a number of flats.)

phill99

What does the lease say about insurance? That will determine who pays for it. We can't see what the lease says.

davidmcn

phill99 wrote: »

What does the lease say about insurance? That will determine who pays for it. We can't see what the lease says.

Indeed, it seems odd to be looking at insurance before you understand what the lease says.

Loopyloopz

We lived in a leasehold house, freehold held by the council. We had to pay for the buildings insurance. I wouldn’t think the council would pay your buildings insurance, particularly as you are paying 0. Ours was £50 a year and that didn’t give us anything. But do double check the lease document, to be sure. It’s good to know what’s in it anyway.

cattie

I don't know where you read that freeholder pays for buildings insurance on leasehold properties as it's WRONG. The freeholder will, in most cases arrange for the buildings insurance policy to be taken out, but the cost of the insurance is met by the leaseholders.

There are some leasehold properties that have to arrange for their own policies, but this is often when there's nil ground rent or service charges
payable & all repairs etc. need to be sorted & paid for by by leaseholders.

You need to check with the council whether they arrange for buildings insurance on the property or if you need to do this yourself.

G_M

cattie wrote: »

I don't know where you read that freeholder pays for buildings insurance on leasehold properties as it's WRONG. The freeholder will, in most cases arrange for the buildings insurance policy to be taken out, but the cost of the insurance is met by the leaseholders.

.

I think that's what posters meant. The freeholder arranges and pays for the insurance, but then reclaims the cost from the leaseholders.


In this case (leasehold house) it is likely the leaseholder arranges and pays for insurance, but as others have said, it's impossible for us to know for sure without seeing the lease.