Property Ownership Types

TYPES OF PROPERTY OWNERSHIP

In BC the most common property ownership types are:

Freehold

With a freehold interest (also known as a fee simple) the owner has full use and control of the land and the buildings on it, subject to any rights of the Crown, local provincial & municipal restrictions that are in place at the time of purchase. Most of the Detached Homes are Freehold.

Strata Title

The strata title form of ownership is designed to provide exclusive use and ownership of a specific housing unit (the strata lot) which is contained in a larger property (the strata project), plus shared use and ownership of the common areas such as halls, grounds, garages, elevators, etc.

This type of ownership is used for duplexes, condos, townhouse complexes. In addition, some single family home developments may be part of a Bare-land strata development, when the ownership of the common space is shared, the owners also share financial responsibility for its maintenance.

Leasehold

In some cases, you might purchase the right to use a residential property for a long, but limited, period of time. The owner of this right of use has a type of ownership called a leasehold interest.

This type of ownership is used most often for townhouses or apartments built on city-owned land. It is also used occasionally for single detached homes on farm land, on First Nation reserves, and for apartments where the owner of the freehold interest of an entire apartment block sells leasehold interests in individual apartment units to other “owners.”

Leasehold interests are frequently set for periods of 99 years, but regardless of the length of the original term, you will only be able to purchase the remaining portion. Of course, the shorter the remaining portion, the less you, or the person who eventually purchases from you, will be willing to pay for the leasehold interest.

Cooperative

In the cooperative form of ownership, each owner owns a share in a company or cooperative association which, in turn, owns a property containing a number of housing units. Each shareholder is assigned one particular unit in which to reside.

WAYS TO HOLD THE TITLE

A person can own property in three ways. It may be helpful to contrast different methods of ownership.

Sole Ownership

Property, such as a house, can be registered in one person’s name alone. That person is the Sole Owner. After death, the house will form part of his or her estate and be dealt with as directed in his or her Will.

Joint Tenancy

If you own property with another person as Joint Tenants, then on the death of one joint tenant, his interest in the land passes to the other joint tenants by the right of survivor-ship, and this process continues until there is but one survivor, who then holds the property as sole owner.

Joint Tenancy is a form of ownership whereby each tenant holds a common (or undivided) interest. The right of survivorship exists. If one person dies the other joint tenant(s) automatically inherits the property in equal proportions.  As a result Joint property does not form part of the estate on one’s death.

All Joint Tenants always own an identical and equal portion of the property and equal rights to the entire property – if there are two tenants, they each own 50%, if there are four, they each own 25%.

Some people transfer property to Joint Tenancy in order to avoid probate fees. There can be a number of complications with this approach including:

• Land transfer tax
• Income Tax triggered on the “disposition” of portion of ones interest
• Possible Loss of control of the property
• Potential for claim from creditors of new joint tenant

The law presumes that an asset (other than land) held in two or more names is owned as a joint tenancy, unless there is an indication that the owners own it in shares. So, for example, household goods, vehicles, bank accounts and investments owned by two or more persons will be presumed to be owned by them as joint tenants, unless their respective shares of the assets are specified or there is a statement that the asset is held by the owners as tenants in common.

At the time of purchasing the property, all names of the group who are joint tenants will show up on the title of the property evenly and each of the joint tenants has the entitlement in law to possession of the whole property. [ie no one joint tenant is in any way restricted from using any one part of the property].

Joint Tenancy is the most common way for a couple to own real property.

The mortgage of a Joint Tenancy property requires the unanimous agreement of all joint tenants.

A sale of the entire property requires the agreement of all joint tenants, however, with the exception of a matrimonial home, any one joint tenant can sell their interest thereby automatically severing the joint tenancy and creating a tenancy in common.  It is not necessary to apply to the courts to sever a joint tenancy.

Tenants in common

Tenants in Common is a form of ownership whereby each tenant holds a percentage interest in property. If one of the owners dies, that owner’s interest in the property passes to their estate to be passed on according to their will.

Tenants in Common can hold equal or unequal shares in the property.  Every party owns an undivided share in the property and as a result is free to possession of the whole property.  For example, there could be five persons who are tenants in common, but four of them could own 1/10 of the property each, and the fifth person might own 6/ 1 0 of the property.

If the holder of a tenancy in common desires, either to sell or mortgage their interest in the property, that can be done by them without the consent of the other tenants.  It is also possible for a tenant in common apply to the courts to “partition” the property or to sell the entire property and distribute the net proceeds of sale proportionately.

Tenancy in common does not carry a right of survivor-ship as in joint tenancy.  In other words, if one of the tenants in common dies, the interest does not go to the other tenants, but goes to the estate of the deceased.  If there is a will, it is distributed under the terms of the will.  If the deceased person does not have a will, there is provincial legislation dealing with that type of situation, and the person’s assets, which would include the tenancy interest, would be distributed to relatives according to the legislation.

There are a variety of reasons why some people prefer tenancy in common to joint tenancy:

• If you were purchasing property for investment purposes with persons who are not relatives, you would not want them to automatically have your interest in the property in the event of your death.
• If you have been formerly married, have children from a earlier relationship, and have since remarried, you may perhaps desire to state in your will that a clear piece of the worth of the estate go to those children independently or jointly.  The only way this can be dealt with is in tenancy-in-common circumstances, because the interest would be deemed to be an asset of one’s estate.
• If you were putting uneven amounts of money in the property, a tenancy-in-common arrangement would be a sign of those various contributions in terms of the proportion of interest in the property.

Check our other blogs under Real Estate 101 – that might give you answers about buying or selling a home.

The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only.