In the US, at least in most places, you can’t subdivide your land at will. When you buy a piece of land, it’s worth more if it’s zoned such that it can legally be subdivided.

It certainly is.

What parent is asking is whether selling just the stairs in a building, or happenstances to that effect, are common in Britain.

It’s not common, that’s why there’s a news article about it.

But they aren’t buying the stairs. The stairs are worthless. They’re buying the land underneath.

As far as I understand the stairs are disconnected from the adjacent property and unused.

edit: here’s the first article when it was still up for sale: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/30/step-to-rich...

They aren’t buying the land either, it’s a leasehold.