LEASEHOLDS – AN ALTERNATIVE TO REGULAR OWNERSHIP TITLES

For property law, the system of estates represents the most obvious of many links between past and present. The very word “estate”, drawn from and implying status, signifies the feudal origins of the system. So does the distinction, still current, between freehold and nonfreehold estates- the first referring to normal tenures of feudal times, the second to mere leases. Leaseholds – or nonfreeholds or tenancies- are a part of the larger estates system. Like the freehold estates, leaseholds have roots that run deep into feudal times (hence the notion of a tenant who holds under a landlord). And again like freeholds, leaseholds have been fairly static over the years in term of their formal characteristics. In terms of relations between landlord and tenant, however, there have been regular and significant developments. The most important of these, together with the body of conventional American law in the background, make up the bulk of this paperwork. The article considers the incidents of leaseholds and then concludes with a selective look at the persistent problem of affordable rental housing.