Reviewed by Casa Academy and updated July 29, 2026 using the current DBPR checklist and Pearson VUE scheduling guidance.
Leasehold Estate
A leasehold estate is a tenant's possessory interest in real property for a defined or periodic term under a lease, classified as a less-than-freehold estate because duration is limited unlike fee simple ownership.
Exam context
Identify leasehold as nonfreehold possessory interest created by lease. Fee simple is freehold. Life estate is freehold but measured by life, not calendar lease term.
Types of leasehold estates
Estate for years has fixed start and end dates. Periodic estates renew automatically (month-to-month). Estate at will terminates on notice without fixed term. Estate at sufferance exists when a holdover tenant remains without landlord consent after expiration. Each carries different notice and eviction rules.
Contrast with ownership
Leaseholders hold possessory rights but not fee simple title on the deed. They may assign or sublet if the lease permits. Freehold owners hold indefinite duration interests. Ground leases combine long leasehold estates with fee ownership retained by the landowner.
Examples
Estate for years
A signed lease from June 1 to May 31 creates an estate for years even though the term crosses calendar years. No monthly renewal is implied unless holdover statutes convert it.
Month-to-month periodic
After a one-year lease expires, the tenant pays monthly without a new fixed term, creating a periodic tenancy terminable on statutory notice.
Keep studying
Related terms
- Freehold estateOwnership estates of indeterminate duration.
- Lessor vs lesseeLandlord grants and tenant holds the leasehold.
Related resources
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- Real estate glossary hub
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- Florida exam topic hub
Florida-specific explainers and question sets for this topic area.
Sources
- Cornell LII: landlord-tenant law(Cornell Legal Information Institute)