Housing in BritainIn Great Britain, families prefer to live in houses rather than flats. Over 70% of people live in houses and only about 20% live in flats. About 35% of people own the houses they live in, or buy them with money borrowed from a bank or building society.
In the 1930’s a large number of semis were built. They share a central wall. Typically, a semi has a small garden in front of it and a fence divides a larger garden at the back. Semis are still built where land is expensive. A detached house has land round it. More and more modern homes are detached, although in areas where building land is expensive, the houses may be very close to each other. Country cottages are often old stone buildings which were part of a farm. Some country cottages are very old and they may have a thatched roof. Today many people who work in the cities buy cottages so that they have a place to go for the weekend. A bungalow is a house where all the rooms are on the ground floor. As there are no stairs, many older people dream of going to live in a bungalow when they retire. A block of flats. In the 1950s and 1960s local councils cleared a lot of slums in the inner city areas and knocked down terraced houses in very poor areas. Block of flats or tower blocks can vary from 3-5 storeys high up to 10-20 storeys high. Each storey contains 5 or 6 flats for families. But people don’t like to live in them because there are many social problems. The country mansion. Very few of the British live in country mansions. Today many mansions are used as restaurants, hotels, old people’s homes, etc. Many British people are lucky enough to live in their own homes, and the great majority of these have a small garden. However, housing is a problem in many cities. Many young people have to live in, or share, small one-room flats called bedsitters, and the homeless are still a problem.
b) Complete the following sentences: 1. Most British people live in a … 2. Most people in Britain … their house or a flat. 3. Terraced houses are joined to each other to form a … 4. Detached houses are usually in the … 5. Country cottages are very old and usually have a … roof. 6. A bungalow has all the rooms on … 7. The British don’t like to live in blocks of flats because … 8. Few British people live in … 9. Most British homes have a … 10. A lot of young people in Britain have to live in …
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There are different types of housing in Britain. Terraced houses are attached to each other in a long row. They are usually found in towns and cities and many were built in the 19th or early 20th century as houses for workmen. Today, Victorian terraced houses are very popular city homes. In earlier times, terraced houses were also called town houses. These have three or four stories and very large rooms, and town houses are now very expensive and fashionable.
