Owning your own home

Could it have been for a bit of the property, not the whole thing?

That sale is a little dodgy no?

No. The owner bought the leasehold interest in the property in January 1998, and then bought the freehold later that year, most likely pursuant to the enfranchisement provisions of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967. Assuming it was a tolerably long lease the freehold would have been worth much less than the long leasehold interest, as it was only the reversionary interest expectant upon the lease being acquired when the freehold was purchased. The price payable for the freehold reversion would probably have largely represented the deferred value of the freehold once the lease was expired, deferred over the remaining term of the lease using the standard Sportelli rate of 4.75% per annum. Admittedly Sportelli wasn't decided until 2008, but it represented standard industry practice anyway.