Houses in England
Most people in England live in urban areas. Towns and cities are spreading into their surrounding environment to cope with the increasing population.
Who owns houses in England?
More people are buying their own homes than in the past. About two thirds of the people in England and the rest of Britain either own, or are in the process of buying, their own home. Most others live in houses or flats that they rent from a private landlord, the local council, or housing association. People buying their property almost always pay for it with a special loan called a mortgage, which they must repay, with interest, over a long period of time, usually 25 years.
What are houses in England like?
England has many types of homes. In the large cities, people often live in apartments, which are called flats. In most towns, there are streets of houses joined together in long rows. They are called terraced houses.
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)
Street Numbering
Street numbering was introduced by act of Parliament in 1765. Every house in a town and city has a number followed by the name of the road it is in e.g. 26 Avebury Avenue. The first house in the road is number one and the last house is the number of buildings in the street. The number readily identifies the location of a property in a road and so makes it easier for the emergency services to find houses quickly. Odd numbers are usually assigned to the left side of the street and even numbers to the right, as they head out of town.
|