Currently, there are three main types of land titles in Northern Ireland with different variants: fee simple, fee tail and life estate.
As for the lease of land, the ownership of land on lease terms was not recognized under the conditions of the feudal system. The transfer of land for use for a certain period of time was considered as a contract that had a personal nature. The lease agreement was considered as something completely different from the freehold title. In the XVII century. the title of lease arose, and it was recognized that it creates interest in relation to the land.
There is another special category, which in Northern Ireland is called fee farm grant. At its core, this title is a freehold, but it has the characteristics of a long lease. The content of this title includes issues of rent and conditions for the loss of lease rights. Fee farm grant can be compared to freehold rentcharge (ownership burdened with rent) in England. The Northern Ireland Property Order 1997 prohibits the creation of new fee farm grants after its entry into force, but such titles created earlier continue to be valid. Many long-term lease agreements have been created based on this title. Therefore, due to this circumstance and other historical reasons, most of the land in Northern Ireland is owned on the basis of a long-term lease and it is also sold on this title. Long-term lease can be up to 10 thousand years.
