99-year lease

A 99-year lease was, under historic common law, the longest possible term of a lease of real property. It is no longer the law in most common law jurisdictions today, yet 99-year leases continue to be common as a matter of business practice and conventional wisdom.

The law

Under the traditional common law doctrine, the 99-year term was not seriously literal, but merely an arbitrary time span beyond the life expectancy of any possible lessee (user) or lessor (owner).

William Blackstone (1723–1781, of Commentaries on the Laws of England fame) states that a lease was formerly limited to 40 years, although much longer leases (for 300 years, or 1000 years) were in use by the time of Edward III. The 40-year limit was based on the text The Mirror of Justices (book 2, chapter 27).

In the law of several US states, a 99-year lease will always be the longest possible contract for realty by statute, but many states have enacted shorter terms and some allow infinite terms.

Due to the influence of the ideas of Henry George at the time the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) was established in the early 20th century, all land in the ACT is held under 99-year leases, the first of which expired in 2023.

The 99-year lease concept has been more common under the civil law regimes when it comes to concessions of territory: most concessions last for 99 years.

Examples

• Destroyers for Bases Agreement – leased old U.S. Navy destroyers to the United Kingdom in exchange for the right to construct U.S. Armed Forces bases in the British Empire, including Newfoundland, the British West Indies, and British Guiana.

Americas

• Boston Museum of Science – leased by the Boston municipal government to the Metropolitan District Commission
• Castaway Cay – leased to Disney by the Bahamian government in 1996
• Moffat Tunnel – leased to Union Pacific Railroad by the state of Colorado.
• Ontario Highway 407 Express Toll Route – leased to private company by the Ontario provincial government under Premier Mike Harris for C$3.1 billion.
• Panama Canal – Panama leased the canal and the surrounding zone to the United States during the 20th century. Returned to full Panamanian control by 1999 under the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties.

Asia

• British Hong Kong – The Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory resulted in the 99-year lease of the New Territories from the Qing Empire to the British Empire in 1898. Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula had already been ceded to the British in perpetuity after the Opium Wars. Transferred to full control of the People's Republic of China in the 1997 Hong Kong handover.
• Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port – Sri Lanka to China
• Kouang-Tchéou-Wan
• Public housing in Singapore – all HDB flats are sold with 99-year leases. Upon expiry of the lease, control reverts to the government of Singapore.

Africa

• Suakin Island – On 17 January 2018, as part of a rapprochement with Sudan, Turkey was granted a 99-year lease over Suakin Island. Turkey plans to restore the ruined Ottoman port city on the island.
• Diego Garcia – The United Kingdom announced the handover of the entirety of the British Indian Ocean Territory, including the island of Diego Garcia, to Mauritius in exchange for a 99-year lease on Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia in October 2024.

See also

• 999-year lease – Quasi-permanent leasehold
• Ground rent – Rent for the ground where a tenant can do property development
• Lend-lease – WWII program to provide U.S. allies with free armamentsPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Rule against perpetuities – Legal rule prohibiting very long temporary interests in property
• List of territory purchased by a sovereign nation from another sovereign nation