It's all a question of who owns what and what common parts you share...
When the whole of a building is owned by one person/family the property will generally be freehold - if it's divided up, ie into flats, then it is likely to be leasehold.
There is a good reason, and that's because the maintenance of the flats above and below affects you - most leases divide the cost of repairs to the main structure ie the outside of the building the windows, roof and brickwork equally between the leaseholders whilst the freeholder will organise the work and co-ordinate it.
