Strata, freehold, and leasehold: what the title means
In B.C. the word on the title — freehold, strata, or leasehold — quietly shapes your monthly costs, your mortgage, and how easily you can resell. Here is what each one means.
Two listings at the same price can be very different purchases once you read the fine print on tenure — the legal form of ownership. In British Columbia you will mostly meet three: freehold, strata, and leasehold. Knowing which is which tells you who maintains the building, what you pay every month, and what the home is worth decades from now.
Freehold (fee simple)
Freehold — formally fee simple — is the most complete form of ownership: you own the land and the building on it indefinitely, with the most rights and the fewest limitations. Most detached houses are freehold. There is no ground rent and, with a clear title, financing is generally the most straightforward. This is the picture many buyers have in mind when they think about “owning a home.”
Strata
A strata (what other provinces call a condominium) is how you own a unit in a shared building or complex — a condo, a townhouse, even a bare-land subdivision. You own your individual unit outright, plus a shared interest in the common property — lobbies, roofs, elevators, grounds — which the strata corporation maintains on everyone’s behalf.
What comes with a strata
- Strata fees — monthly payments toward day-to-day operating costs and a Contingency Reserve Fund for big future repairs.
- Special levies — one-time charges (approved by a ¾ vote) when a major expense outstrips the reserve.
- Bylaws and rules — governing pets, rentals, age and renovations, under B.C.’s Strata Property Act.
- Documents to review — the Form B Information Certificate, the depreciation report, financial statements and meeting minutes.
Most strata is still freehold
Confusingly, a strata can itself be freehold or leasehold. The great majority of B.C. stratas are freehold strata — the corporation owns the land outright. “Leasehold” is a separate question (below), so always check both the tenure and whether the home is a strata.
Leasehold
With leasehold, you own the home and the right to live there, but you lease the land from its owner for a fixed term — often up to 99 years. Because you do not own the land, leasehold homes usually sell for less than comparable freehold ones. In Greater Vancouver you will find leasehold on UBC and SFU lands, on certain First Nations lands (such as Musqueam and Squamish), and on some City of Vancouver land like False Creek South.
There are two flavours. A prepaid lease has the land rent paid up front for the whole term, so you only carry maintenance or strata fees. An ongoing ground lease charges rent that is reset periodically — and can rise.
What happens as a lease runs down
This is the part that catches buyers off guard. A leasehold home’s value tends to decline as the lease approaches its end — slowly when there are 60+ years left, then more sharply under roughly 30 years. Two practical consequences follow:
- Financing tightens. Lenders generally want the remaining lease to outlast your mortgage’s amortization by a margin (often around five years). Short remaining terms can be hard to finance at all — though long prepaid leases, like many UBC properties, finance much like freehold.
- The end of the term matters. When a lease expires, the improvements typically revert to the landlord; renewal is not guaranteed and may be renegotiated at market rates or settled by a buyout. Lease terms and lender policies vary widely, so read the actual lease.
A tax wrinkle
B.C.’s Property Transfer Tax applies to a lease only when the remaining term is over 30 years (shorter leases are exempt) — one small example of how tenure reaches into your costs. See our Property Transfer Tax guide.
The quick comparison
| Freehold | Strata | Leasehold | |
|---|---|---|---|
| You own | Land + building | Your unit + a share of common property | The home + the right to use leased land |
| Monthly costs | Yours alone | Strata fees + reserve fund | Maintenance/strata; sometimes ground rent |
| Financing | Most straightforward | Standard (lenders count ~50% of fees) | Depends on years left on the lease |
| Long-term value | Tracks the land | Tracks the building + land | Declines toward lease end |
General tendencies only — every property, strata corporation and lease is different.
Sources
GeoHouse is a technology company — not a licensed real estate brokerage, REALTOR®, lawyer, or financial advisor. This article is general education about how the process works in British Columbia, not advice for your specific transaction. Rules and figures change; confirm current details through the official sources linked above and consult a licensed REALTOR®, mortgage broker, lawyer, or notary before making decisions.