Insurance 'vital before carrying out renovations'

Landlords should always make sure they have appropriate insurance before carrying out major renovation work on their property, an industry expert has said.

In a recent study by the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG), it was found that 27.1 per cent of privately-owned homes in the UK were classed as 'non-decent' for human habitation.

The figures showed that a landlord turning such a property into a rental unit could have to spend over £7,000 to ensure it reached the 'decent' standard set by DCLG.

However, Jason Orme, the editor of Homebuilding & Renovating magazine, said that anyone - including landlords - looking to carry out major renovation work on a property should plan insurance first.

He explained: "If you are undertaking substantial work and you need to move out then you need to [obtain] specialist renovation insurance - that's very similar to the insurance people take out when they're building their house.

"If you're doing a loft conversion or a small extension that tends to be something that you can get specialist small-level insurance for."

Figures released by Hometrack suggest that house prices in the UK are beginning to cool. Data shows that the annual rate of house price inflation fell from 6.4 per cent in June to 5.9 per cent this month.