It’s the end of term and students have been packing up their accommodation and heading home for a summer of fun.
For many it has been a disjointed year with a mixture of in-person seminars and online classes but with each passing month things are returning to more normal set-ups.
In cities like Belfast a large number of properties will now remain vacant until students start returning in September.
It was recently revealed that Belfast ranks alongside Durham in England as the most profitable city in the UK to own a rental property.
Landlords here collect almost £1.8 billion ar year in rents from around 60,000 students. With over 65,000 students attending Northern Ireland’s universities, demand for rental properties close to campus remains high, making it a lucrative business for landlords.
And with the city a burgeoning hub for tech start-ups, more people are locating to Belfast and they are often in search of rental accommodation.
Whether you own one property or an entire portfolio, the summer months when students and tenants have returned home can often be the riskiest time for landlords.
A leaking pipe can drip for weeks with nobody around to turn it off causing thousands of pounds of damage or a vacant property can be an easy target for criminals.
With such a volume of student properties across Northern Ireland the advice to landlords is to ensure your insurance is up-to-date so you can be protected against a whole host of unpredictable factors.
A good insurance broker can make sure your policy is tailored to your needs and designed to tackle the specific problems you face while ensuring you only pay for the cover you need.
The best policies will provide buildings cover, equipment breakdown (eg ventilation/air conditioning units), landlord’s contents, including those contained in communal areas.
A good policy can also provide cover for loss of rent following an insured event.
Owning property means that you face the risk of incurring liabilities through your operations, therefore suitable liability insurance will help protect you against claims made across a variety of scenarios.
There are various liability options to consider:
:: Property owners liability: As a property owner or landlord, this policy covers you if a member of the public (including tenants) injures themselves on your property or damage is caused to property belonging to someone else.
:: Employer’s liability: If you employ staff as part of your property business, you are legally obligated to have employer’s liability in place to help pay compensation if an employee or indeed ex-employee sues you for injury or illness caused by their work.
:: Public liability: Public liability covers your property business against claims of injury or property damage to a third party.
:: Land liability: If you own land, this policy covers you against exposure to claims as result of someone being injured on your land – even trespassers.
:: Donna Vaughan is account executive at AbbeyAutoline (www.abbeyautoline.co.uk)
