Freehold프리홀드, 단독 소유

What is it?

Freehold means you own both the land and the building on it, in your own name. The legal term is fee simple, the fullest form of ownership in Ontario. The Land Titles Act defines "owner" as an owner in fee simple.

On a Toronto listing, detached houses, semi-detached houses (one shared wall) and many townhouses are freehold. The "Ownership Type" field or the description will say Freehold.

Owning it outright does not mean you can do anything you like. The lot lines (check the survey), rights of neighbours or utilities to cross the land (easements), the city’s zoning rules and your mortgage all come with the land.

How is it different from a condo?

In a condominium you own only your unit, and the hallways, roof, elevators and other common elements are owned by all the owners together in shares. In a freehold, everything is yours.

No condo fee does not mean cheaper. A new roof, furnace or windows lands on you all at once. Setting money aside each month is you running your own reserve fund.

There are three kinds of townhouse

Townhouses that look the same can be owned in different ways. You often cannot tell from the listing, so your lawyer checks the title and the condo documents.

• Freehold townhouse: you own the house and the land under it. If you share a wall with a neighbour, a party wall agreement may be registered on title. There are no fees.
• Condo townhouse: a "unit" in a condominium corporation. It is shaped like a townhouse but legally it is a condo. You pay condo fees, the corporation looks after the roof and exterior, and you need a status certificate when you buy.
• POTL townhouse (parcel of tied land): you own the house and lot freehold, but the private road, visitor parking, water and sewer lines or other shared parts of the complex belong to a "common elements condominium corporation" that you co-own. Section 139 of the Condominium Act requires each owner in such a corporation to also own, in fee simple, a parcel of land outside it. So it is freehold, yet you pay a monthly common elements fee (the POTL fee).

If a listing says "Freehold" but shows a monthly fee, it is probably a POTL. Have your lawyer confirm the amount and the corporation’s condition. See "POTL".

There is also a "freehold condominium"

One thing is confusing. In the Condominium Act, a "freehold condominium corporation" is a condo corporation in which the owners hold all the units and common interests in fee simple, as opposed to a "leasehold condominium corporation" built on leased land. Most condos in Ontario are "freehold condominiums" in this sense.

So seeing "freehold" in a disclosure statement or declaration does not mean "not a condo". It is a different meaning from the freehold you see on a listing, which means a home with no condo corporation. Keep the two apart when you read documents.

What the owner is responsible for

• All repairs and upkeep: roof, foundation, furnace and air conditioning, plumbing (including the pipe running to the city sewer at the street), electrical, windows, fences and the driveway.
• Yard, trees, snow and ice: municipal by-laws set who clears the sidewalk, when you need a permit to remove a tree, and property standards for lawns and weeds. Check the by-laws of your municipality.
• Home insurance: you insure the whole building, your contents and your liability. Your mortgage lender will require it.
• All utilities: electricity, gas, water, garbage fees (varies by city) and property tax.
• Saving for repairs: a big repair such as a roof or furnace can cost a lot at once. Use the home inspection report to decide how much to set aside each month.

Municipal rules: permits and zoning

Even on your own land you need a building permit from the city to build or demolish. Section 8 (1) of Ontario’s Building Code Act, 1992 prohibits constructing or demolishing a building without a permit. Check with the city for additions, basement apartments, major structural changes and decks.

What you may build is governed by zoning. Toronto has a city-wide Zoning By-law 569-2013 and an interactive map where you can look up the zoning of any address. In recent years Toronto has changed its rules to allow garden suites, laneway suites and multiplexes (several units on one lot). See "Zoning" and "Building permit".

When you buy, check that the previous owner did not renovate without permits. Unpermitted work may have to be fixed or re-permitted by the new owner.

New freehold homes and Tarion

A new freehold home bought from a builder comes with Tarion’s new home warranty: one-, two- and seven-year coverage. For agreements signed on or after July 1, 2023, the maximum warranty coverage for a freehold home is $400,000 (a condo unit is $300,000).

There is protection before closing too. Deposits are protected up to $60,000 if the price is $600,000 or less, and up to 10% of the price (maximum $100,000) above that. For agreements signed on or after April 1, 2026, you must register the purchase with Tarion within 45 days of signing to qualify for the maximum coverage (the change to coverage amounts is deferred to January 1, 2027). If closing is late, delayed closing compensation is $150 a day up to $7,500.

Tarion explains that condo deposits must be held in trust under the Condominium Act. That trust rule does not apply to freehold deposits, so Tarion’s deposit protection matters more. Check in your contract who holds the deposit. See "Tarion" and "Pre-construction deposit structure".

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