tenancy

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A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a leasehold estate is typically considered personal property.
Leasehold is a form of land tenure or property tenure where one party buys the right to occupy land or a building for a given length of time. As lease is a legal estate, leasehold estate can be bought and sold on the open market. A leasehold thus differs from a freehold or fee simple where the ownership of a property is purchased outright and thereafter held for an indeterminate length of time, and also differs from a tenancy where a property is let (rented) on a periodic basis such as weekly or monthly.
Until the end of the lease period (often measured in decades or centuries; a 99-year lease is quite common) the leaseholder has the right to remain in occupation as an assured tenant paying an agreed rent to the owner. Terms of the agreement are contained in a lease, which has elements of contract and property law intertwined.
The term estate for years may occasionally be used. This refers to a leasehold estate for any specific period of time (the word "years" is misleading, as the duration of the lease could be a day, a week, a month, etc.) An estate for years is not automatically renewed.
Colloquially, "lease" and "leasing" are often a formalization of a longer, specific period as compared with a "rental" that created a tenancy at will, terminable or renewable at the end of the lease period.

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  1. S

    NSW Mixed Tenancy

    Is it possible to buy property as joint tenants between me and my husband (50%) and joint tenants for my daughter and her husband (50%) but tenants in common with each other? How would this be reflected on the title search? thanks
  2. V

    VIC Tenancy Dispute

    Hello, I would like to receive a bit of information about how tenancy works in Victoria. We had 1 year rental lease agreement at a property and we decided to extend it for one more year. By the end of first year, one of the tenant decided to move out so we started looking for one more tenant...
  3. Adam Gittoes

    NSW What are my options for forcing a roommate to move out - they are not on the lease

    I have a roommate that moved in a short time ago. They refused to sign the papers to be added to the lease, and have become difficult to live with (not doing chores or cleaning up after themselves etc.). They have also refused to moved out at my request. Since they are not on the lease, do I...
  4. Tenant

    WA Tenancy Eviction (Tenant)

    Hi I was wondering if you could help me with a tenancy matter. I'm a tenant in WA who rents through a real estate agent. A few weeks back I got behind with rent, and was unable to get up to date by the end of the 7 day notice (14 day notice has not been used). So now there is a court date to...
  5. Tenant

    WA WA Tenancy Eviction (Tenant)

    Hi I was wondering if you could help me with a tenancy matter. I'm a tenant in WA who rents through a real estate agent. A few weeks back I got behind with rent, and was unable to get up to date by the end of the 7 day notice (14 day notice has not been used). So now there is a court date for...
  6. F

    NSW NCAT Appeal order/directions made tenancy matter

    I am the respondent to NCAT appeal. A callover and stay hearing was listed for today. On Wednesday, the applicant applied for an adjournment. He stated in his email it was due to medical reasons, but did not supply me with a medical certificate. I assume he supplied a medical certificate to the...
  7. T

    NSW Evict housemate in NSW

    Hello, I have a question regarding a housemate, who refuses to vacate. I rent the house and am the only tenant on the lease. I gave him verbal notice of three weeks today, but he told me that he refuses to leave and its not my house and called the police on me. Who were more annoyed for wasting...
  8. C

    VIC Commercial tenancy relief regulations.

    We have a long term lease arrangement for a serviced apartment which changed hands mid 2019. The long term lease is with X. All documentation over the years is with the company called X even when it has changed hands. The latest change occurred mid 2019. Rental relief can be calculated in a...
  9. P

    NSW Tenancy and Mortgagee Repossession of property

    We have been tenants in a property in the sydney area for five years and we have always paid our rent on time until three weeks ago when we were contacted by the bank and advised by them that the bank is repossessing the property as the landlord had defaulted on their mortgage. Few days later we...
  10. M

    QLD Pre-Existing Mould Condition

    Good morning LawAnswers, I would greatly appreciate any info you can offer me and my young family. Long story short: Moved into a beautiful rental in August 2020, paying $800/ week. On the Entry Report we documented a horrendous smell coming from the very large kitchen island bench (large...