Tenure is a collective term that relates to the nature of the owner’s title to a property. For example, do they own it on a freehold or a leasehold basis? Put simply, tenure relates to something you possess or hold.
Having a freehold tenure means you have the full rights of ownership over that property and the land it sits on. However, if you are looking to buy a property, do check and confirm that this is the case. Never assume a house is freehold and a flat is leasehold; there are occasions when the opposite could be true in each case.
If you have a leasehold tenure on a property, it means you own the property but someone else owns the land the property is sitting on. This is most common where flats or apartments are concerned. Since there are several properties that are essentially built on top of one another, it would be impossible for each flat owner to own the land it is built on.
The landlord, i.e. the owner of the land, would charge ground rent to all those with leasehold properties on that land. The land would also be leased for a specific number of years. The shorter the leasehold, the less valuable the property would be. This is an important point to note if you are considering getting a leasehold tenure to a property. There is also the question of what might happen when the lease nears its end. There are pros and cons to each type of tenure that relate to responsibilities for each.