What will landlord insurance look like if proposed government measures are imposed?

unknown, but expect another 0 on the end of the premium I expect.....

My guess is the effect will be two fold
a) premiums will rise
b) more lower income tenants and guarantors will fail affordability checks necessary for rent protection insurance

For renters that probably means - higher rents, lower earners with no guarantor finding it even harder to get on the list and higher income working professions getting available property.

and likely a few more landlords leaving the markets decreasing available stock .

Not quite the desired effects .

Don’t forget Labour are proposing that tenants have an implied right to make “improvements” to the property. So get ready for all your walls to turn purple and modifications made to that lovely kitchen you installed last year.

I think it is unhelpful to over politicise us. The previous Tory government hit landlords and their tenants hard.

The new labour Labour needs educating.

For example it seems that allowing tenants to "improve" their home may be seem like increasing tenants rights BUT of course the next tenant has to live with those "improvements". So it is easy to argue that consents have to obtained so one tenant cannot make changes at the expense of another.
As most labour councils struggle with tenants improving their council houses and are in my opinion even stricter than I would be as a private landlord in forbidding that you may find you have a lot of allies in the labour party for your perspective so long as you don't alienate them by politicising the debate.

Omar
Don't Panic!

The market will adapt. The abolition of s21 will make little difference to loss of rent insurers: landlords can use section 8. Insurers might limit the period for which they will provide cover but they are in business to make money and will not stop insuring altogether.

Householders who own pets can get insurance. Landlords will not be obliged to take pets, come what may. They can refuse but must provide a valid reason.

I have never been asked by insurers about EPC ratings - though they could check themselves from the address.

Keep Calm but if it is all too much for you, landlording may not be for you.

Panic is not a suitable response but neither is wrapping your head in the clouds.

Changes in legislation and have real effects in the economy. Even statements of intent can have these effects as Liz Truss found out to her dismay!

Sensible analysis and boring old spreadsheets protect us against false confidence an dbravado as well as panic

I think the abolition of section 21 has already been partly adjusted for in the market by rent increases to allow for increased risk and increased landlord refereeing and the rise in demand for referees but we wil likely see more of the same if we see court delays due to increased section 8 applications without any additional provision . This alone could drive up cost of rent protection insurance .as the ability to evict caps the liabilities that the actuaries use to calculate insurance risk and premiums.

Sensible landlords I know are adjusting to the pets issue quite legally by simply charging a higher rent to pet owners for increased wear and tear. This is legal and fair. Non wear and tear damage by pets like scratching furniture and decorations or additional cleaning costs due to pet hairs or smells are written into contract to be paid for on a roling basis rather than for the deposit and in the case of non payment separately recovered via
acour claim along with court costs. Non payment of such costs can be added to the contract as ground for removal of pet license.

EPC rating are down the line a bit now - but many landlords are increasing rents to make the necessary alterations to bring themselves up to scratch. Others have not yet grasped this nettle

But additional costs like those derived a right to stay 2 years will make it harder for those who look like they are in insecure jobs to rent. And will discourage landlords offering short term accomodation to those moving to sa new city for a new jb and needing rented accomodation while they look round for a place to buy - this could have a major negative impact on economic growth and deelopment in the regions.

Reply to the comment left by Mark Smith at 08/08/2024 - 12:54
Whilst not ideal of course, I don’t see the tenant’s right to stay two years as a major issue. More concerning is if the rent is not paid during this time and Section 8 for arrears is not available during this two year period.

OK some example problems .

I am working abroad or away in the UK for a year on a short term contract - I decide to rent out my house to someone needing short term accomodation rather than leave it unoccupied . I can't do this any more cos there is no way to have a one year contract

I am a landlord with an HMO that lets to a mix of students and other tenants - this makes a total mess.

I am a landlord letting out my retirement property - my tenant current tenant leaves 23 months before my reitrement - am I prohibited from letting it and have to leace it empty for nearly 2 years?

there are many other similar scenarios where this could make a total mess of things if introduced without a consultation period and suitable exceptions to deal with these and many other relevent scenarios. .

Thank you everyone for your input.
It's certainly a concern and I'm interested to see how insurers will go about this.
While Section 8 is still available, we can hope to lean on that as many LLs, myself included, don't feel too much need to evict someone unless they are misbehaving and/or in breach of their contract.
Part of me feels as though many new legislations being discussed will be some time away if at all. Using the EPC C rating as an example which was only then later scrapped by the government.
Like many things, they try to instill fear into us with proposed targets and In turn we use this fear and voluntarily go ahead and comply without giving any more thought as it helps us feel safer.
It will be interesting to see whether the properties being bought en masse by large corporations will also be subject to as many legal requirements as us in the PRS. It seems clear that Social housing likely won't be.