WHAT ARE THE HOUSES LIKE IN THE UK?

Housing and houses in the UK are completely different to those in South Africa.


I'll do my best to explain what is meant by the various types of houses or names given to houses in the UK.


House: just about always refers to a double storey house but could be anything from a free-standing house to what we would call a duplex in South Africa, to one of a row of houses joined together.


Detached: normally means a free-standing double storey house.  It doesn't share walls with any other property.

Semi-detached: normally means two double-storey houses joined together. They normally look like one big house from the road. But looking more closely you will see two front doors.  It's a symetrical building with one house on either side seperated by a central wall.

Bungalow: normally a single-storey house, the type we are most accustomed to in South Africa.  These are few and far between in the UK


Terraced: a row of, what we South Africans would call duplexes joined together.  These would be the most common type of house especially in and around city and town centres.  All the houses in the row look similar and share a wall with the house on either side, except for the houses on each end of the row.


End-of-terrace: as for terraced, above, but the house at either end of the row.  It only shares a wall with a house on one side.

Cottage: normally a small house on some one elses property.

Flats:  these are the same as in South Africa

Have a look at Property Investment Project which also has some good descriptions and photos of the different types of houses in the UK.