Buildings insurance for landlords

Q: What is building insurance?

Building insurance is a cover that can pay to rebuild or repair the structure of your property if it’s damaged or destroyed. It covers parts of your property like the walls, floors and roof if they’re affected by something like fire, storm, flood or vandalism.

Q: Is building insurance mandatory?

If you own a property, buildings insurance isn’t a legal requirement, but it will usually be required by your mortgage lender. If you own a leasehold property (a common arrangement for flats) then buildings insurance may be a requirement of the lease, although it’s often arranged by the freeholder.

Q: What does building insurance cover?

Building insurance can cover the cost of repairing or rebuilding your property if it’s hit by a disaster like a storm, fire, or flood, or if it’s damaged by something like vandalism or subsidence. Landlord building insurance is designed to protect your rental property from these risks.

Q: What’s the difference between buildings and contents insurance?

The difference between buildings and contents insurance is that buildings insurance covers the physical structure of the property including the walls, roof, and floors, while contents insurance covers items inside the property, like furniture and freestanding appliances.

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Why is landlords building insurance important?

A fire over Christmas or subsidence you’re not expecting – damage to your building can mean more than just a few weeks of repairs. If the property is badly damaged and a rebuild is on the cards, landlord buildings insurance can cover the cost, along with loss of rental income and property owners’ liability cover from £2 million.

buildings insurance for landlords, UK customer service and claims team
property owners’ liability cover – choose from £2 million or £5 million
rebuild your property with expert cover up to £1 million

What does landlord building insurance cover?

Landlord building insurance is designed to cover rebuild or repair costs – we can cover up to £1 million – if your property is damaged during an event like a fire or storm, or if it’s vandalised. Our policies also provide £2 million or £5 million property owners’ liability insurance options, built to support you with claims for third-party injuries or property damage.

Fire
Malicious damage
Storm or flood
Subsidence
Accidental damage
Theft

Fire

What does this cover?
- partial or complete rebuild of your property, up to £1 million
When would I need to make a claim?
- for example, an electrical fault causes a fire in your property, damaging the floorboards, support beams, and roof
Malicious damage

You might claim for this if someone intentionally damages your building.

What is malicious damage?

A crime where someone intentionally causes damage to the property. This could be your tenants, their guests, or an outsider, and can include damage like graffiti, arson, and smashed windows.

For example:
- a vandal spray paints your building and smashes three windows in the early hours of the morning
What isn’t covered?
- malicious damage is covered as standard by some insurers, but others might not cover it at all, or only when you’ve selected accidental damage cover
- properties which are unoccupied for long periods may not be covered by certain insurers
Always check your policy wording carefully before you buy, to make sure you have the right cover for your property.
Storm or flood

What does this cover?
- water damage caused by a storm or flood
- partial or complete rebuild of your property, up to £1 million
When would I need to make a claim?
- for example, a violent storm with sustained high winds causes severe damage to your property
Subsidence

What does this cover?
- damage caused by movement in your property, due to subsidence
- partial or complete rebuild of your property, up to £1 million
When would I need to make a claim?
- for example, your property begins sinking into the ground, after prolonged rainfall. This puts strain on the building, resulting in visible cracks across walls, ceilings, and floors which will worsen with time
Accidental damage

What does this cover?
- unexpected physical damage, caused suddenly to the building
- partial or complete rebuild of your property, up to £1 million
When would I need to make a claim?
- one of your tenants is moving belongings into the loft, but damages the ceiling below by putting too much weight on the non-boarded floor
Theft

What does this cover?
- loss or damage to the building caused by theft or attempted theft
- forcible and violent entry (or exit)
- partial or complete rebuild of your property, up to £1 million
When would I need to make a claim for theft?
- for example, thieves break into your property and cause extensive damage to the back door and its frame
What isn’t covered?
- loss or damage caused by people lawfully on the premises – this may be covered instead by malicious damage insurance – or when the property is unoccupied for long periods of time

This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of landlord insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions

Buildings insurance for landlords – how much does it cost?

Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.

Prices start from £13.61 per month

Get tailored quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.

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*The price is for building and £2 million property owners’ liability insurance only – 10% of customers paid £163.27 or less annually in 1st Feb – 30th April 2025. Equivalent to £13.61 a month (and excludes the extra costs for paying monthly). If you complete a quote, more types of cover will be available, including up to £5 million of property owners’ liability insurance. These all have additional costs.

Example landlord building insurance quotes, real prices

£30.63 /month

£272.3 /year

Renting out a small 1 bedroom terraced house that will be unoccupied for the first 50 days of policy

Residential
Terraced / End terrace house
1 bedroom
1 bathroom
Built between 1945 and 1979
2-3 years
Unoccupied
Based in Sheffield

Landlord buildings

£100,001 to £125,000

Property owners’ liability

£2,000,000

Accidental Damage

Not included

£181.97 /month

£1,617.50 /year

Renting out an entire building with multiple flats, some of which won’t be occcupied from the start of the policy

Residential
Entire building with multiple flats converted building or house
Built between 1980 and 1989
Over 5 years
Occupied
Based in Dundee

Landlord buildings

£750,001 to £1,000,000

Property owners’ liability

£5,000,000

Accidental Damage

Included

How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 29/10/2021). They’re based on a range of factors, like employees and location. Your own quote will be based on what you tell us about your property. Prices may go up or down from day to day, so the prices you’re quoted may differ to the ones you see here.

How it works

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Only pay for what you need

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Our team of UK-based insurance experts are here to help, Mon 09.00am – 05.30pm, Tues 09.00am – 05.30pm, Weds 09.00am – 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am – 05.30pm, Fri 09.00am – 05.30pm, Sat 09.00am – 02.00pm

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Find answers to common insurance questions

How do claims work?

Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive.

£68 million in claims paid out in 2024

76% of claims were settled in 2024.

The figure above is rounded across our range of products. “Settled” covers paid, declined or withdrawn. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis. Our specialist partner Sedgwick will pay the claims on behalf of the insurer. Reviewed on 26/02/2025.

Example claim

Having landlords’ building insurance through Simply Business has saved landlords thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.

Muhammad saved more than £38,200

Muhammad (not his real name) was alerted to a fire in his property, caused by a chip pan. The fire caused extensive damage to the property’s walls, ceiling, and units. There was also smoke damage throughout, and resulting damage to a neighbouring property. The fire cover in his landlords’ building insurance covered partial rebuild and repair works.

Insurance payout

£38,252.16

Covering the cost of fire damage

Insurance payout

Covering the cost of fire damage

Chosen by nearly one million small business and landlord customers

We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then, with nearly a million customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.

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Landlord buildings insurance FAQ

Whether you’re new to buying landlord insurance or you’ve been letting your property for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about landlord building insurance. You can also check out our landlord insurance FAQs.

What is building insurance?

Is building insurance mandatory?

What does building insurance cover?

What’s the difference between buildings and contents insurance?

Do I need landlord insurance and building insurance?

You can buy building insurance as part of your landlord insurance policy. Landlord insurance from Simply Business can include property owners’ liability insurance, landlords’ contents insurance and other rental-related covers. You’ll usually need to add building insurance and these other optional covers onto your policy – they’re not automatically included.

Bear in mind that a normal residential building insurance policy will usually be invalid if you rent out your property, so cover specifically designed for landlords is often necessary. Also remember that building insurance tends to be a requirement for mortgage lenders.

What is the difference between landlord insurance and home insurance?

Home insurance is required when you want to insure the home you’re living in against accidental loss or damage.

Landlord insurance is different – it’s required when you own a property that you rent out to a third party, and don’t live in yourself. It covers different insurance risks from a home policy, taking into account the type of tenant you rent to and how long you’ve owned the property. It also allows you to insure the property and protect yourself against things like loss of rental income, and malicious damage caused by your tenants.

Do I need any other additional landlord covers?

You can add a range of other important covers to your landlord insurance policy, all while keeping it simple with a single premium and a single renewal date. You might consider these covers:

This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of landlord insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions.

Buildings insurance for landlords

Why is landlords building insurance important?

What does landlord building insurance cover?

Fire

Malicious damage

Storm or flood

Subsidence

Accidental damage

Theft

Buildings insurance for landlords – how much does it cost?

Prices start from £13.61 per month

Example landlord building insurance quotes, real prices

How it works

Pick what goes into your policy

Get prices from a range of insurers

Buy online in minutes

Talk to an expert

Online

Phone

FAQs

How do claims work?

£68 million in claims paid out in 2024

Example claim

Muhammad saved more than £38,200

Compare and buy in minutes

Rated 4.6/5

Here to help

24/7 claims

Landlord buildings insurance FAQ