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.
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Under the traditional American common law doctrine, the 99-year term was not literal, but merely an arbitrary time span beyond the life expectancy of any possible lessee or lessor.[1][2]
In the law of several US states, a 99-year lease continues to be the longest possible contract for realty by statute, but many have enacted shorter terms and some allow infinite terms.[3]
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.
The British famously had a 99-year lease, or concession, to Hong Kong New Territories from China from 9 June 1898 to 1 July 1997.[4] The Guantanamo Bay Naval Base started as a 99-year lease in 1903 from the first president of Cuba to the United States.[5] The Lend-Lease program of the 1940 was enabled by 99-year lease of British bases on several islands (Gander International Airport in Newfoundland).
Grants of Leases linked from the ACT Planning & Land Authority.