Landlord insurance in London

London's rental market is the largest and most varied in the country, but a great deal of its housing shares one foundation: London clay. That ground is behind the capital's most persistent structural risk, subsidence.

Where the risks come from for London landlords

London clay shrinks in a dry summer and swells when the rain returns, and the movement can crack the walls of the period terraces and semis that fill the city, especially where mature street trees draw moisture from the soil. Subsidence claims are among the longest and costliest a landlord will face.

A London example

After a run of dry summers, a Victorian let on a tree-lined street develops widening cracks around a bay window, and monitoring confirms clay-related subsidence. Investigation, root management and underpinning stretch over many months and run to a large five-figure sum, met by subsidence cover that cheaper policies would have excluded or heavily restricted.

What landlord insurance covers

For any period property on clay, subsidence, heave and landslip cover is the part of the buildings policy that matters most, with a clear excess and a sensible approach to monitoring. It sits alongside the standard perils, property owners' liability and loss of rent.

Placing it in London with Apex

Subsidence risk is exactly where a broker earns their place, from placing a property with a history to keeping a claim moving. Apex arranges London lets, period or modern, through one named contact and insurers who will carry clay risk sensibly. FCA authorised, broking since 2009.

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