Definition
An owner of a leasehold property (leaseholder) does not own the land the property sits on, or in the case of a flat, the building in which the flat is located.
Each leaseholder enters into a lease with the freeholder (who owns the land and the building) to own the property for a fixed period. This period of time is typically 99 or 125 for residential property. The length of the lease decreases year by year until it eventually runs out. In return, the owner of the lease pays ground rent and a service charge to pay for repairs and maintenance.
Although these properties are commonly flats, some houses in some modern developments are leasehold properties. These houses may be liable to pay ground rent and service charges to the developers.