99-Year Lease vs. Freehold vs. Deposit Model — Which Retirement Home Ownership Structure Is Best?

You own the unit outright via a registered sale deed, the same as any other real estate purchase. This falls fully under standard property law and, if the project meets the K-RERA threshold, K-RERA registration requirements. On inheritance, the unit passes like any other real property you own — through your will, or under succession law if you don't have one.

You hold a registered lease right to occupy the unit for the lease term, without full ownership. This is a different legal instrument from a sale deed, with its own registration and stamp duty treatment, and — importantly — its own terms on whether the lease right can be transferred, sublet, or passed to heirs, which vary by the specific lease document rather than being standardised. Always get the specific transfer and succession terms of the lease reviewed before committing, since "99-year lease" describes the term, not the terms.

Here you're not buying or leasing property at all — you're paying a deposit (sometimes very large) for a contractual right to live in the residence, typically for life or for the term you specify, with the deposit refundable on exit or to your estate on death, usually after deductions. This is closest to what Kerala's guidelines describe for a Pay Home (see the deposit refund guide) — no property inheritance at all, since there's no property ownership to inherit, only a right to a refund.