Residential Conveyancing Solicitors in Ilford helps in the transfer of residential property from one person to the other. A residential property, in contrast to a commercial property, is a property that is inhabited by humans. The people who live in these properties consider them as their homes. They do not conduct any legally binding businesses within these properties. There are many types of ownership schemes of residential properties. Knowing the kind of ownership of residential property will enable a prospective buyer to choose the type of residential property that he finds suitable.

One of the types of ownership is freehold ownership. A freehold owner is an outright owner of property. He owns the ultimate title to the property. Freehold ownership is not limited with time. The freehold owner can claim absolute ownership of the property for as long as he wants. Even if he sells the property as leasehold or commonhold, he remains the principal owner. The freeholder loses his title only if he sells the property, or transfers its freehold ownership, as a freehold. He can make both immobile and mobile structural changes in the property. Stationary changes are those that affect the primary structure and architecture of the property. They include changes in the design of rooftops, patios or floor plans. Immobile changes do little to the general architecture of the property. They include changing shower heads, bathtubs or lighting system of the property. A freehold owner can be a landlord to a property if the property is tenanted, or sold in a leasehold or commonhold.

The other type of property ownership is leasehold ownership. A leaseholder is basically a tenant who has a right to stay in a freehold property for a very long time. Most leases extend for 90 years. Occasionally, a lease can last as long as 999 years or as short as 40 years. The duration of the lease is agreed upon between the leaseholder and the freeholder upon signing of the contract. The leaseholder has limited rights to the property. His rights are spelt out in the lease. Most freeholders do not allow leaseholder to own certain pets. Leaseholders cannot make significant structural changes in the property without obtaining the freeholder’s approval. They, however, can make minor, immobile changes. A leaseholder has many financial obligations to the property. He must pay for property maintenance, annual service charges, ground rent and their share of property insurance.

Commonhold ownership is yet another type of property ownership. Commonhold ownership has qualities of leasehold ownership as well as some qualities of freehold ownership. Like leasehold owners, the duration of commonhold ownership is limited. Commonhold owners cannot claim ultimate ownership of the entire property in which they are partly owners. They have freeholder’s who may interact with them directly or through an agent. Commonhold owners, like freehold owners, have the right to change immobile parts of various aspects of the property in which they live in. They can change the general architectural framework of the unit that they do not share with anyone else. If they want to make changes in parts of the property that are shared, then they have to vote, alongside other members of the commonhold ownership.