At least in the UK this isn't really a thing. In London you have share of freehold apartments in the outer boroughs, but in Central London it's almost all leas

At least in the UK this isn't really a thing. In London you have share of freehold apartments in the outer boroughs, but in Central London it's almost all leasehold. You have a long lease, but ultimately you have a superior landlord, pay a service charge which can vary, the exterior of the building isn't yours, etc. A huge benefit of buying a house over an apartment here is that you can actually meaningfully own it. Repairs are up to you, the postbox is up to you, if you want a thing done you just do it (no negotiation or cost sharing), the land is yours forever and the superior landlord can't change to one who's less amenable, etc. I suppose this could fall under your: > happen to have a decent choice of apartments for sale comment, but it's really more that the legal structures in the UK hugely favour owning a house. (I'm not really sure it could ever be different, an apartment is always going to be "closer to renting" because it's communal to a degree).