ABSTRACT
The main legal interests bought and sold in property are freehold and leasehold interests. As investments the former have an assumed perpetual life because the freehold title (Fee simple absolute) is the largest legal estate or right of ownership of land in the UK, a title which enjoys rights in perpetuity; the latter have a limited life span fixed by the lease term. Having identified the interest to be valued the valuer must then consider what future benefits, by way of rent, ownership will produce for an investor and assess any liabilities that the owner may be, or may become, liable for in the future. This will usually involve assessing the market rent, determining what rent if any is currently being paid under any existing leases together with an estimate of any annual expenditures payable by the investor and any immediate or future capital liabilities. The timing of these potential receipts and payments must also be ascertained. The perpetual nature of freehold interests means that valuers have developed certain short cuts as clearly it is not sensible to try and look too far into the future.
