Commonhold: Difference between revisions

'''Commonhold''' is a system of property ownership in [[England and Wales]]. It involves the indefinite [[Freehold (law)|freehold]] tenure of part of a multi-occupancy building (typically a [[Apartment|flat]]) with shared ownership of and responsibility for common areas and services. It has features ofsimilar to the [[strata title]] andsystem thein [[Australia]], and [[Condominium (living space)|condominium]] systems, which exist in the [[AustraliaUnited States]]. andFollowing a consultation by the [[UnitedLaw StatesCommission (England and Wales)|Law Commission]],<ref respectively.name="CriticalAppraisal">{{Cite book |last=van der Merwe |first=Cornie |title=Modern Studies in Property Law Volume 3 |last2=Smith |first2=Peter |publisher=Hart |year=2005 |isbn=9781841135588 |editor-last=Cooke |editor-first=Elizabeth |chapter=Commonhold—A Critical Appraisal}}</ref> Itit 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.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3675612.stm |title=Commonhold property ownership explained |newspaper=[[BBC News Online]] |first=Paul |last=Neville |date=3 October 2005}}</ref>

An important difference between commonholds and leaseholds (leases) is that a commonholdscommonhold is indefinite in time, unlike a leasehold which is only granted for a fixed period of time (the term). As a consequence, a commonhold title is not a [[Depreciation|depreciating]] asset, whereas leaseholds lose valuesvalue as the end of their term (''[[term of years]]'' or in extraneous documents sometimes ''existence'') approaches.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/new_homes/article6286224.ece |title=Brief encounter: commonhold property |date=15 May 2009 |newspaper=[[The Times]] |first=Mark |last=Loveday}}</ref>

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 (homes) in England and one commonhold residential development comprising 30 units (homes) in Wales.<ref>[[House of Commons of the United Kingdom]], {{UK Parliament |speaker=[[Michael Wills]] | date=9 June 2009 | place=Written Questions | url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2009-06-09c.278364.h |column=792W |title=Commonhold }}</ref> By 2020, this number had not risen significantly—with under 20 developments using commonhold.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Commonhold |url=https://lawcom.gov.uk/project/commonhold/ |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=Law Commission |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Where freehold houses should be subjected to [[positive covenants]] which force their owners to contribute to communal maintenance, such as in [[garden square]]s, as few such duties can attach to freeholds, access to such areas can be physically restricted to those who own that area, commonly through a residents' management company. {{Incomprehensible inline|date=July 2024}}. Such a company, if the land was owned by the original landlord such as a developer, may come into the hands of the lessees (tenants) through a statutory process leading to legal agreements or a court order which creates a limited liability [[right to manage]] (also known as an RTM) company. A common alternative has been [[rentcharge]]s where truly necessary services or contributions need to be made which cannot devolve to a local authority or statutory undertaker through ''adoption''.