Leaseholders suddenly stuck with big maintenance bills

Faced with hefty new expenses for building improvements, owners of leaseholds in privately owned buildings are pleading with B.C.’s provincial government to create legislation that would protect them and mandate transparency around escalating costs.

Long-term leasehold is a form of ownership in which the buyer pays a lump sum to purchase a long-term lease to occupy a unit, but without owning the actual property. Leaseholds are popular in England but less common in North America. Most were created in the 1970s and were often rental apartments that converted to leaseholds, choosing not to become strata condos.