ABSTRACT
In towns in England the freehold is not often owned by the householder. The most usual system is for the ground to be let even before the building is put up, on a long lease, generally 99 years. (The Government tax on contracts is at a lower rate on terms below 100 years). The lessee contracts to put up a building, very often of a specified kind or value, and to pay an annual rent for the land. This rent is known as ground rent, and the person to whom it is paid is usually known as the ground landlord. At the end of the term the land, with the buildings on it, becomes the property of the ground landlord, and the buildings must be handed back in a good state of repair. As, however, at the end of a lease buildings are often pulled down, the ground landlord often accepts in lieu of repairs a sum of money, generally known as dilapidations. The holder of a lease can sell it, but generally a fee has to be paid to the ground landlord on the transfer of a lease ; sometimes his approval of the buyer has to be obtained. Leases are simply contracts and vary very much in detail. Sometimes the use to which the buildings may be put is limited, e.g.f as private dwelling-houses only, generally the tenant undertakes to keep the buildings in good repair, though the ground landlords vary very much in the zeal with which they enforce such clauses. Naturally a leasehold is less valuable than a freehold, and the selling value of a lease is smaller the shorter the term which it has to run.
