What does freehold condo mean?

Asked by: Cedric Lewis

FREEHOLD CONDOMINIUM Owners of freehold condominiums typically own their unit — such as a house or townhouse — as well as the land it’s on. They are usually responsible for the care and maintenance of their entire property, including the home’s roof and outside walls and the lawn, driveway and garage.

What does freehold condo mean in Singapore?

What Does Freehold Mean In Singapore? Properties that have a freehold lease can be held by the property owner until he/she decides to sell it. However, in some circumstances, the government can buy the property back from the property owner for future development at the market price.

Is Singapore condo freehold?

Freehold vs Leasehold Condos in Singapore. Technically, there are three types of condos in Singapore: freehold, 99-year leasehold and 999-year leasehold. For the last option, it’s usually taken to be as good as freehold because well, 999 years is a really long time.

Why is freehold better?

Pros of freehold:

You outright own the property and the land it’s on. You have control over what happens to the property. It tends to be a house rather than a flat.

What is the difference between freehold townhouse and condo townhouse?

With a freehold townhouse, you own the home and its land. With a condo townhouse, you own the interior of the home only. Its land and surrounding areas are collectively owned by the group of condo unit holders, which, in turn, is managed by a condo corporation.

Is it safe to buy freehold property?

Banks are generally more willing to extend a home loan for a freehold property, as compared to a leasehold property. This is because it is considered a safer investment, as the registration of a freehold property is done and it is also expected to increase in value.

Is buying a freehold a good investment?

All this can mean a multitude of income streams – covering ground rents, management fees and commissions, as well as capital payments from lease extensions and the sale of spaces – which can make freeholds a strong investment opportunity indeed.

Is freehold better than leasehold?

Cheaper properties: Leasehold properties tend to be cheaper than freehold properties. However, this is due to the risks involved. Less responsibility: The freeholder usually manages maintenance for the building and communal areas and arranges buildings insurance.

Do freehold properties have a lease?

If you gain a share of freehold for your building, you will still own your property on a long lease. However, as a co-owner of the freehold of the entire building, you and the other co-owners now have control over lease lengths. This means that you can renew your lease and only pay for the legal fees.

Can freehold become leasehold?

There are circumstances when it makes commercial sense to convert a property tenure from freehold to leasehold. These circumstances could include dividing a large house into flats or conversion of a commercial property under permitted development rights. If you choose to go down this route you need to tread carefully.

How long do leaseholds last?

Leasehold means that you just have a lease from the freeholder (sometimes called the landlord) to use the home for a number of years. The leases are usually long term – often 90 years or 120 years and as high as 999 years – but can be short, such as 40 years.

What is leasehold condo?

A leasehold situation is when you buy the structure or the building, while leasing the land from the owner. The land can be leased from the city, government authorities or private companies and individuals. In layman’s terms, it means you own the property, but not the land it is on.

What is leasehold and freehold?

When you buy a property freehold, you own the building and the land it’s on until you decide to sell it. But if you buy a property leasehold, you own only the building (not the land it’s on) and only for a set number of years.

What happens when you buy a freehold?

The freeholder (or landlord) is usually responsible for insuring the building and maintaining communal areas. This is where a building’s flat-owners club together to each buy a share of the freehold. They are responsible for insuring and maintaining the building.

Is freehold expensive?

Freehold is often more expensive than leasehold at the outset. Similarly, freehold often applies to houses rather than flats, so they are naturally more expensive.

Does freehold mean no mortgage?

What does freehold mean? Owning the freehold of a property means that you own it outright, including the land on which it’s built – although that’s subject to any mortgage you have taken out. If you own a freehold by way of a mortgage, you won’t own the freehold outright until the mortgage is paid.

Do you have to pay ground rent on a freehold property?

Benefits of having a freehold

You don’t have to: worry about the lease running out, as you own the property outright. deal with the freeholder (often known as the landlord) pay ground rent, services charges or any other landlord charges.

Does freehold increase value?

How much does freehold add to house price? According to surveyors, owning a freehold adds 1% onto the value of a flat when compared against a similar property. But the increase in property value isn’t always necessarily a persuasive factor.

Is it worth buying the freehold on a 999 year lease?

Put simply, acquiring a 999 year lease enables a flat owner to have a title that is ‘as good as freehold’ and therefore more marketable than for example a 85 year lease, whilst retaining the existing freehold/leasehold structure.

Can a freeholder refuse to sell the freehold?

Can a freeholder refuse to sell the freehold? A freeholder can only refuse to sell the freehold if the qualifying requirements are not met. For example, leaseholders may ask if you will sell the freehold to them even if more than 50% of the leaseholders do not wish to participate.

Can government take back freehold land?

“The government can still take back freehold land under the Land Acquisition Act 1960, to be developed for public purposes [such as an MRT project] or economic development. The term ‘economic development’ is a grey area and the government has the discretion to take over any private property [at any time],” says Ong.

Does condominium expire?

What the law refers to in the 50-year rule is the lifespan of a corporation which is essentially the same to unit owners who make up the condominium project. However, the condominium corporation can actually be renewed for another fifty years so the ownership does not necessarily end.

Is it worth to buy leasehold condo?

From SLA’s Leasehold Table, we can see that up till its 78th year, a leasehold condo is still worth 90% of a freehold condo. Thus, if you are looking at a new launch and not intending to stay for longer than 20-years, it might be more cost effective to opt for the leasehold.

What happens after leasehold expires?

When the leasehold on a property expires, the property reverts back to being a freehold property where ownership of both building and land belong to the freeholder. Even if you have paid your mortgage off and own the property outright, when that leasehold expires you’ll have no legal rights to the property.