Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn

ARTICLE · 11 FEBRUARY 2020

Differences Between English And Scottish Property Law: The Basics

Dentons
Dentons
Contributor
Dentons

Dentons

The Firm Across over 80 countries, Dentons helps you grow, protect, operate and finance your...

View firm profile
Explore more from Dentons

As they are all part of the United Kingdom, there will not be any differences between transacting with property in Scotland or in England and Wales, right? Wrong!

United KingdomReal Estate and Construction

As they are all part of the United Kingdom, there will not be any differences between transacting with property in Scotland or in England and Wales, right? Wrong!

Different systems of property law operate in each jurisdiction and, while some legal concepts are similar, there are plenty of distinctions to navigate and to catch out the unwary.

(Note that references in this article to England/English should be read as references to England and Wales/English and Welsh.)

Types of ownership of land

In England, the two commonly encountered types of ownership are freehold and leasehold:

  • freehold is where the property is owned outright and is not time-limited.
  • leasehold is where there is an exclusive right to occupy the property for a set period of time. The term of a leasehold interest can vary from the very short (for example, a matter of weeks) to the very long (for example, 999 years). 

We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.

Dentons is the world's first polycentric global law firm. A top 20 firm on the Acritas 2015 Global Elite Brand Index, the Firm is committed to challenging the status quo in delivering consistent and uncompromising quality and value in new and inventive ways. Driven to provide clients a competitive edge, and connected to the communities where its clients want to do business, Dentons knows that understanding local cultures is crucial to successfully completing a deal, resolving a dispute or solving a business challenge. Now the world's largest law firm, Dentons' global team builds agile, tailored solutions to meet the local, national and global needs of private and public clients of any size in more than 125 locations serving 50-plus countries. www.dentons.com.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

See more popular content from