Freehold Flat Insurance

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What is a freehold flat?

A genuinely freehold flat is rare - most 'freehold flats' tend to be owned under a 'share of the freehold' arrangement, whereby the owners of flats within a property have jointly purchased the freehold of the land upon which the block of flats is located. In these circumstances, it is often the case that the shared freeholders will jointly prepare long-term leases for individual owners, enabling them to share the cost of any maintenance for the property as a whole.

Is it difficult to insure a freehold flat?

Arranging buildings insurance for freehold flats is not something you tend to consider until you come to try it and for many insurers, the pitfalls of insuring freehold flats outweigh the commercial rewards and so most tend to shy away from offering competitive insurance quotes for freehold flats or apartments.

For this reason, the lack of availability of mortgages, most freehold flats tend to be purchased by cash buyers only.

However, it is possible to insure a freehold flat, and QuoteRack can put you in touch directly with insurance brokers who can guide you through the freehold insurance process.

Frequently asked questions about freehold flats

Do you own outright the freehold of your flat?

Flats are usually purchased leasehold, which means that the freeholder of the whole building leases the flats to their owners. Sometimes the leaseholders will club together and buy the freehold of the whole building so that they have a share in the freehold but the flats will remain on individual leases. It is rare to find a true freehold flat, which is where the ownership extends only to the boundaries of the flat itself and most mortgage lenders will generally not accept these as security.

Do you own a share of the freehold?

From an insurance point of view, there are potential difficulties in getting flat owners to agree on costs of repair and maintenance and this could also affect the security in the eyes of the bank or building society that provides any loan to buy the property.

However, for flat owners who have a share of the freehold of their property, buildings insurance is available and is usually taken out on behalf of all the joint freeholders, so the cost of the buildings insurance is shared among all owners.

What about a right to manage property?

If you are considering setting up a 'Right to Manage' company to take over the management of your apartments or flats, please see our dedicated right to manage insurance page.

"It's been a real challenge to find cover for my freehold apartment - most brokers and online insurers don't want to know."

QuoteRack’s range of specialist insurance brokers will be able to assist you if you are the owner of a freehold flat and if you need to arrange freehold flat owners insurance.

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"We got there, thanks to QuoteRack. My solicitor had warned me it might be difficult to arrange buildings cover for freehold flats and he wasn't wrong."

"Insuring a truly freehold flat can be a minefield, my solicitor warned of the difficulty of finding an insurance specialist who would understand the complexity of finding a good freehold flat insurance quote"

Freehold Flats Insurance