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. In England, an average of 7,000 hectares of farmland, countryside and green space were converted to urban use every year between 1985 and 1998. This is almost the equivalent size of 9,600 international football pitches!
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 associations.
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?
Most houses in England are made of stone or brick from the local area where the houses are built. The colours of the stones and bricks vary across the country.
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)
The most popular type of home in England is semi-detached (more than 27% of all homes), closely followed by detached and then terraced. Almost half of London's households are flats, maisonettes or apartments.
Why do we give our houses names?
House naming started many years ago with rich people naming their homes. The rich named their Halls, Houses, Manors, Castles, and Lodges according to ancestry, location, and family titles: Norfolk House (Duke of), Belvoir Castle (overlooking the Belvoir Valley); Castle Droge (named after a 13th ancestor) etc. Gradually over the years other people began to give names to their homes too.
All houses in towns and cities have a number. Very few have just a name and majority do not have names.
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 which 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.
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