The Enfranchisement of Leaseholds, and the Taxation of Ground Rents, Chief Rents and Kindred Charges on Land in England and Wales

The custom of letting land for agricultural or building purposes i s a very ancient one, the earliest records of such a custom being those which have been preserved in the Institutes of Justinian. From these records we discover that under the Roman Empire there were in use four distinct forms of leasehold tenure. The most important tenure was that known as Emphyteusis—a Greek word meaning planting—which was introduced in the 2nd century, and arose out of the practice of making perpetual leases of provincial lands belonging to the State and acquired by the rights of war. This tenure was afterwards adopted by private proprietors, who, through inability to devote sufficient time or trouble to the cultivation of their property, preferred to let it to a suitable tenant called the Emphyteuta, who agreed to pay an annual rent for the use of the land. Of a similar nature to Emphyteusis was the tenure called Superficies, by which a landed proprietor conceded to another person an area of ground for the erection of buildings without parting with the ownership of the soil. A third class was that known as Precarium, which, being equivalent to a tenancy at will, could be determined by the grantor at his pleasure. Lastly, there was a general system of short leaseholds, the usual term being five years, at the end of which the lease might either be renewed or be considered as one from year to year. In all leases the tenant was bound to pay the burdens attached to the holding of the land and to deliver the receipts to the owner (1).