Commonhold

Commonhold is a system of property ownership in England and Wales. It involves the indefinite freehold tenure of part of a multi-occupancy building (typically a flat) with shared ownership of and responsibility for common areas and services. It has features of the strata title and the condominium systems, which exist in Australia and the United States respectively. It was introduced by the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 as an alternative to leasehold, and was the first new type of legal estate to be introduced in English law since 1925.^[1]

An important difference between commonhold and leaseholds is that commonholds don't depreciate in value in the same way that leaseholds do towards the end of their lease terms.^[2]

In the years since the 2002 Act became law, only a handful of commonholds have been registered whilst hundreds of thousands of long leases have been granted during the same period. As of 3 June 2009, there were 12 commonhold residential developments comprising 97 units in England and one commonhold residential development, comprising 30 units, in Wales.^[3]

See also

• Freehold
• Leasehold

References

1. ^ Neville, Paul (3 October 2005). "Commonhold property ownership explained". BBC News Online. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3675612.stm. 
2. ^ Loveday, Mark (15 May 2009). "Brief encounter: commonhold property". The Times. http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/new_homes/article6286224.ece. 
3. ^ House of Commons of the United Kingdom, Michael Wills Written Questions, 9 June 2009 col. 792W Commonhold

External links

• Commonhold - what it is and how it works - the British Government's Leasehold Advisory Service