Same goes for my house in GB. As far as I can tell, there were many leasehold properties in the 20th century that were for 999 years. I think it may have been a way of massaging the law in order to render it obsolete. I don't think this happens with property recently for sale. As Eve said in another message, there is a difference between tenancy and leaseholding. Audrey ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gordon Barlow" <barlow@candw.ky> To: <OLD-ENGLISH-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, May 23, 2004 11:50 PM Subject: [OEL] 999 years > > copyhold is normally a perpetual tenancy in a manor, which can be passed > > from father to son or sold too. Leasehold is ownership for a finite > > number of years (often 9, 19, 99 etc, with the rare 250 or very rare > > 999) > > Eve McLaughlin > > > It may amuse Listers to know that the 999-years concept is not dead yet. > When we bought an apartment here in this British Caribbean colony in 1978, > there was no condominiums law or strata law. There was a 999-years' Head > Lease from the owners of the freehold land to a company that owned the 12 > apartments built on it, and a 999-years' Sub-Lease from the company to us. > Ground rent of one dollar Jamaican per year; the J$ was then worth five > local cents, so I gave the landowner a buck to keep him quiet for the next > 20 years. There was a long list of things in the leases telling the lessees > what we could and couldn't do during the last few years before the leases > expired. I hope somebody remembers... Later, when a strata law was > introduced, the landowners wanted us twelve sub-lessees to convert to > strata. But he didn't offer us any decent incentive, so we refused. To the > best of my knowledge the units are still subject to the leases. Only 976 > years to go! > > Gordon Barlow > > > ==== OLD-ENGLISH Mailing List ==== > To UNSUBSCRIBE from list mode -- > Send the one word UNSUBSCRIBE to > OLD-ENGLISH-L-request@rootsweb.com > >