Introduced in 2004 but barely used, commonhold lets each unit be owned freehold forever while a commonhold association (owned by the unit-holders) owns and manages the shared structure and grounds under a standard commonhold community statement. There is no freeholder, no ground rent and no wasting lease.
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 and subsequent government commitments aim to revive commonhold as the default tenure for new flats and to ease conversion of existing leasehold blocks. Until the supporting regime is fully in force, leasehold and share-of-freehold remain the norm.
For buyers, commonhold promises simplicity and permanence, but lenders and conveyancers are still building familiarity, so in practice most flats on the market today remain leasehold.