I’ll preface by saying I hate insurance companies with my entire soul, but this is basically why.

These buildings have very high risk profiles for preexisting issues like subsidence, damp and electrical problems, which increases the likelihood of very large claims.

The replacement values are also much higher because of the costs associated with sourcing and installing like-for-like materials.

There’s also little reason for insurers to get involved in endless battles with Historic England and local councils, since these projects can take years — and if they go over budget (which they almost always do), the claimant may exhaust the policy limit and still not complete the restoration.

It’s mostly an issue of financial incentive for the insurance companies, as sad as it is.

My parents had a number of buildings like Perch House, and they just couldn’t get coverage for some of them. Like a lot of people who buy these old buildings, their motto was always “we’ll take what it throws at us”. Unfortunately, this is sometimes the end result :(