Freehold

[jreist]

We was looking at the Ontario Gazette for this weekend and my wife saw the land offering in Thunder Bay and one of the properties had a Mining Claim.  Once she found it on the Map she changed her mind.

But what interested me was that all the property was listed as Freehold, I thought Freehold property refered to homes in townhouse or retirement properties where you own the house but rent the land?

[Frank]

Simply put Freehold means you own it as opposed to owning it in co-operation with someone else which is the case with Co-operatives.   You are confusing the term since it it generally is not even used when it comes to selling single family buildings and lots, whereas with townhouses it is a very important distinction.  Here's the definition of Freehold:

'The owner of a freehold title of real estate enjoys the most superior form of private property ownership. A freeholder is considered to be the absolute owner of the land and buildings comprised in his title; he has the right to occupy, use and enjoy his property forever ("in perpetuity") or until he transfers the title to a new owner, and his heirs are entitled to inherit his title upon his death. Nevertheless, a freeholder does not have total freedom to do what he wishes on his land.

The most obvious form of external curtailment of a freeholder's ownership are public controls, in other words a freeholder must comply with all applicable laws which combine to control the use of, and activities upon, his property.

The second form of external curtailment of freehold ownership is of a more private nature and consists of restrictions placed upon the freehold title. The rights that others enjoy over privately owned property are known as easements. Typically, easements are imposed by the original developer when he sells the property to the first purchaser and are designed to ensure that all owners in the community that he has built have the appropriate rights to fully enjoy their own property.

A further form of title restriction is the covenant. A covenant may be an obligation to do something (a "positive covenant"), such as an obligation to keep the buildings on the land in a good state of repair or an obligation to make a financial contribution to some shared facility such as a car park or private road.

A covenant may take the form of a prohibition (a "restrictive covenant"), such as a prohibition against using the land for commercial purposes or a prohibition against further building on the land.'


Examples of prohibitions on title comes to mind with a lot that I own in northern Ontario.  It was a Freehold patent from the crown to the original owner, but it did not convey mining or logging rights.  Also, the Municipality tells me what I can and can't do with it, but besides that I own it and do what I want with it.   The lot I got last fall in Gravenhurst has restrictive covenants, placed by the original developer, on title giving them architectual control - prohibiting me from building anything too small or shabby (of course this also protects me from my neighbours poor taste).