Freehold

Freehold is the form of property ownership in which the owner holds the property and the land it stands on outright, indefinitely, with no superior landlord. The freehold owner has full ownership rights over the property, subject only to planning law, restrictive covenants, and other registered interests.

Most houses in the UK are freehold. Flats are almost always leasehold (see leasehold), as the building itself is commonly owned by one freeholder and individual flat owners hold long leases.

Freehold is generally preferable to leasehold for investment purposes because: there is no ground rent or service charge, no dependence on a freeholder for consent to alterations or subletting, no lease length to worry about, and no risk of the lease terms creating value complications at resale.

Some house builders have historically sold houses as leasehold rather than freehold, and there has been significant controversy about escalating ground rents on leasehold houses. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 introduced changes to address some of these issues, including restrictions on ground rents and easier leasehold enfranchisement.