Different properties are held under different tenures. Most houses are freehold properties whereas most flats are leasehold properties.

A freehold is simple you own everything above and below your property. No one else can claim an interest in your property. There is really nothing more to cover on freeholds.

A leasehold is usually created where there are multiple properties within the same building, grounds, boundaries etc. The reason being is there may be shared parts of the property such as hallways, lifts, stairs etc that no one person can own. There could also be a shared roof and shared gardens. As the entire building will need access to these parts then no one flat owner can own them so instead the freeholder (or landlord) will own these.

Contained in the lease will be clauses which govern the way you treat the property as well as govern what the landlord can and can't do. These are mainly to do with shared responsibilities for the upkeep of the shared areas as well as respecting your neighbours enjoyment of their home. For instance there may be a clause in your lease to make you paint the front door of your flat every year and to not play loud music after 9. Every lease is different.

The lease will also include provisions as to ground rent and service charges. Ground rent is usually payable annually and can be as little as a peppercorn (in law ground rent can't be nothing so a peppercorn is a legal way of making it for nothing, it's doubtful that the landlord will actually come round and demand his peppercorn) to £1,000's. The ground rent may also have an escalator clause which allows the landlord to increase it at certain points in the lease's life. A service charge is a contribution to the maintenance of the grounds. Again this figure varies from property to property.

When creating lease's the landlord will usually choose nice round numbers such as 99 years, 100 years or even 999 years. Although if you are buying an existing leasehold some of this term may have been used up. Mortgage Lenders generally require the term of the mortgage plus 20-30 years left on the lease before they will lend money on the property.

There can be various parties involved in a leasehold. You have the landlord who owns the freehold of the landlord, a managing agents who could administer collecting rents, service charges and upkeep of the property and you have the tenant who is the current occupier of the property.