Freehold means you own the building and the land it stands on, for ever. Leasehold means you own a fixed number of years under a lease, while a freeholder still owns the building and you pay a service charge and, on older leases, ground rent. Share of freehold means you and your neighbours own the freehold together, usually through a company.
Last reviewed October 2026.
1. Leasehold vs freehold at a glance
Most houses in England and Wales are freehold. Flats almost never are, because the law makes it awkward to own the second floor outright when someone else owns the first. The three words on a listing describe three legal positions, and the difference decides who you pay, who you answer to, and how much the roof costs.
| Topic | Freehold | Leasehold |
|---|---|---|
| What you own | The property and the land it stands on. | A lease, a long tenancy, from a freeholder who still owns the building. |
| How long | For ever. | A fixed term, typically 99, 125 or 999 years when first granted. When it expires, the property reverts to the freeholder unless the lease is extended. |
| Ground rent | None. | Payable on older leases. New residential leases have been set at a peppercorn (in practice, nothing) since 30 June 2022. |
| Service charges | None for the building itself. Some freehold houses on new build estates pay an estate charge for unadopted roads and shared areas. | Yes: maintenance, insurance and the managing agent. Not capped by statute at any absolute level. |
| Permission for works | No freeholder to ask, though any restrictive covenants on the title still apply. | The lease sets out what you can and cannot do; you must seek permission for structural alterations. |
| Mortgage effects | No lease term for a lender to check. | Many lenders set a minimum number of years left on the lease, and several refuse doubling ground rent clauses outright. |
| Costs to plan for | Upkeep of the building is yours, plus any estate charge. | Ground rent, service charges, Section 20 major works, and a lease extension premium as the term runs down. |
The ground rent cap on new leases comes from the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022; existing leases keep the ground rent schedule as written. For what reform has and has not changed, see ground rent cap and leasehold reform. For ground rent escalation, Section 20 major works and the 80-year cliff in detail, see leasehold risks every buyer should check.
3. Commonhold
Commonhold is a form of freehold ownership for flats, introduced in 2002, in which each flat owner holds a freehold interest in their unit and is a member of the Commonhold Association that owns the common parts. It is very rarely used in England and Wales, and most new flats are still sold leasehold, so you are unlikely to meet it on a listing.
4. How to check which a listing is
The tenure line on a listing is the agent's description, not the legal record, and it says nothing about the years left, the ground rent or who the freeholder is. Ask the agent, in writing, for the exact years left on the lease, the current ground rent and whether it doubles or tracks inflation, and the last three years of service charge accounts. Then ask for the lease itself: your solicitor will read it, and it sets out what you can and cannot do in the flat.
To see the legal record yourself, search the address on HM Land Registry's title register service on GOV.UK and pay £7. The register shows the registered owner's name, whether the title is freehold or leasehold, and any mortgage lender. Ten minutes with it tells you the lease length, the covenants, any rights of way and who owns the freehold.
For share of freehold, ask for the company name and look it up on Companies House: are the accounts filed, who are the directors, and does the seller's share transfer with the flat. For a freehold house on a new estate, ask what the estate charge is and who sets it. If the paperwork has a gap, such as a missing lease document, the seller may offer an indemnity policy instead of a fix; read what an indemnity policy covers before you accept one.
Once you know the years left, the leasehold extension calculator estimates the statutory premium to extend the lease under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, Schedule 13, including marriage value for leases under 80 years.
5. Lease length red flags
The years left are what matter, and they only go down. A 92 year lease is fine today and a problem in twelve years' time.
Below 85 years:lenders commonly refuse to lend if the lease has fewer than 85 years at the time of application, or will expire within the mortgage term plus 50 years (UK Finance Lenders' Handbook). Lenders draw their own lines, so check with your broker early.
Below 80 years:extending gets sharply more expensive because the freeholder is entitled to half the “marriage value”, the uplift the extension creates (Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, Schedule 13). The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 abolishes marriage value, but that part is not yet in force.
Below 90 years, plus a doubling ground rent or a forthcoming Section 20: a compound risk that the asking price may not reflect. The full breakdown is on our leasehold risk page.
6. What Eavesdrop checks
Eavesdrop reads the HM Land Registry title register to confirm leasehold or freehold tenure, the unexpired lease term and the freeholder's registered details. It derives the unexpired term at the projected completion date and flags if it falls below the 85-year or 80-year thresholds, and identifies doubling or RPI-linked ground rent provisions in the registered lease.
It matches any freeholder company against Companies House for its status, directors and filings, and searches the First-tier Tribunal's published decisions for the block. Every report draws on up to 66 public registers, each fact cited. No leasehold data in the report is produced by LLM inference.
7. Quick answers
What is the difference between leasehold and freehold?
Freehold means you own the property and the land it stands on, for ever. Leasehold means you own a fixed number of years under a lease, while the freeholder still owns the building. When a lease expires, the property reverts to the freeholder unless the lease has been extended.
Is share of freehold better than leasehold?
Usually, because there is no outside freeholder, ground rent is nil and the lease is normally extended to 999 years. It depends on the neighbours being organised enough to run the freehold company properly.
What happens when a lease goes below 80 years?
Extending it becomes more expensive because the freeholder can claim half of the marriage value. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 abolishes marriage value, but that section is not yet in force.
How do I check if a property is leasehold or freehold?
Search the address on HM Land Registry's title register service and pay £7. The register shows the owner's name, whether the title is freehold or leasehold, and any mortgage.
What is fleecehold?
A nickname for freehold houses on private estates that pay an estate charge to a management company for unadopted roads and shared areas, with limited rights to challenge the fees.