ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Land tenure in England

Ok kiddo, so let's imagine that a person wants to live on a piece of land in England. In order to do this, they need to have something called land tenure. Land tenure is basically a way for people to legally own or control land.

Back in the old days, land tenure was really important because it determined who had the right to use the land and who could make decisions about it. There were different types of land tenure, but one of the most common was called feudalism.

Feudalism was a system where a lord (like a king or a wealthy landowner) owned all the land. They would give out pieces of land to other people, called vassals, who would then have to pay the lord in some way, like with money or by doing work for them. The vassals could then let other people live on the land, but they still had to follow the lord's rules.

As time went on, things started to change. The idea of individual property rights became more important, and people wanted to be able to own land and control it without having to answer to a lord.

So, the English government started to pass laws to make it easier for people to own their own land. They created a system called freehold, where people could own land outright and didn't have to pay anyone else for it.

Another way to get land tenure is called leasehold. This is where someone rents the land for a certain amount of time, like 99 years, and then has to give it back when the lease is up.

Today, most people in England own land through freehold or leasehold, and there are laws that protect their rights to use and control it. It's a lot different than it used to be, but land tenure is still really important because it determines who has the right to use the land, and how they can use it.