Freehold

Freehold is defined in official guidance largely by contrast with leasehold: a landlord under a lease is 'sometimes known as the "freeholder"', and a leaseholder can ask that landlord to sell them the freehold at any time — for a flat this typically means buying a share of the freehold, while for a house it may mean a right to buy the freehold outright, subject to a right of first refusal for leaseholders when a landlord wants to sell.

Owning the freehold does not always mean an owner is free of ongoing charges, however. Government guidance on 'freehold estates' explains that on some private and mixed-tenure housing estates, shared areas such as roads and open spaces are not owned or maintained by the local council but by a private provider or an estate management company, and freehold homeowners on these estates typically pay annual 'estate rentcharges' towards their upkeep, with — currently — limited rights to challenge those charges if they consider them unreasonable.