What is an English apartment?

An English basement is an apartment (flat in UK English) on the lowest floor of a building, generally a townhouse or brownstone, which is partially below and partially above ground level and which has its own entrance separate from those of the rest of the building.

What do the Brits call an apartment?

First, when the British refer to flats it's really synonymous with our use of the term 'apartments' – groups of multi-family housing units within a larger building. The only difference is the word flat is commonly used in British English and the word apartment is more popular in American English.

Why is an English apartment called a flat?

Apartments are called flats because of a word passed down from Old English, “flett,” meaning flat, or all on one level. The word “flett” has a long linguistic lineage from the Proto-Germanic languages and was used as a term for a dwelling as well as referring to the characteristic of being flat.

What's the difference between a flat and an apartment UK?

As mentioned above, the word flat refers to an abode made up of several rooms on a single floor within a building that contains other, similar residences. Apartments, on the other hand, are generally considered to be the flat's more well-to-do cousin.

Do they have apartments in the UK?

Types of Property in the UK

As with rentals, the types of property for sale are around eleven: Flats: i.e. apartments. Two-level flat: i.e. maisonette or duplex. Studio flats: combines a kitchen, bedroom, and living space in one open space.

Renting a House or Apartment in English - Vocabulary and Conversation

What is a condo in UK?

A condo owner. Basically, the British say flat, not apartment. The ownership structure is as follows: The UK equivalent of a condominium is a commonhold property, with common areas and freehold areas (private areas). And flats in this case are owned by unit-holders.

What do you call a townhouse in England?

In British usage, the term townhouse originally referred to the town or city residence, in practice normally in London, of a member of the nobility or gentry, as opposed to their country seat, generally known as a country house or, colloquially, for the larger ones, stately home.

What is a condo vs flat?

Generally, a condominium is a private residence that is rented out to tenants, it can be a flat/apartment or an independent house. But in modern use 'condo' is referred to apartments and flats only. Plus, condominiums are owned and rented by individuals so renting a condo is more of a personal, one-on-one process.

What is the difference in a flat and an apartment?

Definition. Flat: Flat is an individual residence with a set of rooms, typically, on one floor and within a larger building containing a number of such residences. Apartment: Apartment is a room or suite of rooms designed as a residence and generally located in a building occupied by more than one household.

Do Brits say living room?

The main room in an American home, the room where people usually sit and do things together like watch television and entertain visitors, is called a living room. The British name for this room, sitting room, sounds rather quaint and old-fashioned to American ears.

What do they call a living room in England?

In Western architecture, a living room, also called a lounge room (Australian English), lounge (British English), sitting room (British English), or drawing room, is a room for relaxing and socializing in a residential house or apartment.

What is a master bedroom called in England?

They will instead be introduced to the 'primary' or 'principal' bedroom reported The Times. +4. View gallery. The term 'master bedroom' has been banned by dozens of estate agents because of its connotations of slavery and sexism, and instead will be introduced as the 'primary' or principle' bedroom (stock image)

Is flat British or American?

Flat is used in British English, and apartment is used in North American English.

What is a maisonette UK?

A maisonette is a two-storey flat, where your front door is your own. This means that you can exit your home directly to the outside, as opposed to a regular flat where you have a shared corridor.

What makes an apartment an apartment?

An apartment is a rented residential unit that is part of one (or several) residential buildings, or a separate dwelling in a home. There is typically one owner or management company for all the units who does all the maintenance and upkeep.

What is a townhouse vs flat?

The main difference between apartments and townhouses is size. Townhouses tend to be larger—often with two or more bedrooms. They are typically on more than one level, unlike apartments, which are rarely on more than one level.

Why is it called a townhouse?

The origins of the word townhouse go back to early England, where the term referred to a dwelling a family (usually royalty) kept “in town” (meaning London) when their primary residence was in the country.

How can you tell the difference between an apartment and a condominium?

Condominiums are similar to apartments except that a single person or corporation owns an apartment building, while a condominium is where individual dwelling units are owned by different individuals. The core difference between condos and serviced apartments is in their land status.

What is a duplex called in England?

Split-Level Flats

These types of homes in the UK are sometimes referred to as duplexes due to the fact that their area is segmented into an upper and lower half. A staircase normally separates these two areas; providing a number of options in terms of interior design and overall living arrangements.

What do they call houses in England?

The main types of houses in England are:

Detached (a house not joined to another house) Semi-detached (two houses joined together) Terrace (several houses joined together) Flats (apartments)

What is a duplex in England?

In the UK, the term 'duplex' refers to an apartment (not a house) that includes two floors of accommodation, joined by an internal staircase.

What is difference between condo and condominium?

A condo, short for condominium, is an individually owned residential unit in a building or complex comprised of other residential units. Condo owners share a common space and often pay association fees to maintain the common space, amenities, and other shared resources.

Why a condo is better than a house?

Condos tend to come with lower price tags than single-family homes. They offer significantly greater independence than renting, but you aren't on your own when it comes to maintenance and repairs. Plus, owning a condo gives you the chance to build equity you can use toward a down payment on your next home.

What is a condo in the USA?

A condominium, called “condo” for short, is a privately-owned individual unit within a community of other units. Condo owners jointly own shared common areas, such as pools, garages, elevators and outside hallways and gyms, to name a few.

Why do Brits say floor instead of ground?

“Floor” was an archaic word for “ground” centuries ago. And according to the Oxford English Dictionary, “floor” has been used in the game of cricket to refer to the ground (but this must be an uncommon usage, since it doesn't currently appear in any standard British dictionaries).