This is the house where I grew up in London.

It is possible to recognise much of Britain by the architecture. This is because the buildings are built from local stone, or are typical of the design of that part of the city or countryside.

The New Town, Edinburgh.

An example would be the buildings in the Lake District. These are traditionally made from local stone with white, (lime washed) walls to keep out the damp. This is an example of vernacular architecture, or local architecture. The roofs have slate tiles, and the chimneys have arrangements of slates on them to help prevent smoke blowing back down. The downstairs rooms often have slate floors. Many of these old buildings are still standing. They are usually protected by law, and are ‘listed buildings’, Grade I or Grade II listed buildings.

Somewhere to Live.

There are many types of housing in Britain. These range from the traditional thatched cottages, to modern blocks of flats in the cities. Houses are often described by the period they were built in, for example, Georgian, Victorian, 1930’s or post-war. They are also described by the type of house they are. For example, a terrace: a house joined to another house, a semi-detached house, (two houses joined together), a detached house (which has no houses attached to it, or a bungalow. They are also described by the number of bedrooms they have, e.g. 3 or 4 bedrooms.British Homes are also described by the number of bedrooms, e.g. 2, 3 or 4.

A: "What’s your house like?"

B: "It’s a 2 bedroom house"

A: "What’s your house like?"

B:"It’s a Victorian detached house". 

A: Nice! 

A bungalow is a one story house, and the word comes from hindi, the Indian language, (bangle means house). It is a loan word which along with pyjamas was introduced into Britain during the British occupation of India.

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British houses are usually built of brick. These days from a single wall with wood, and until about 1950-1960 they were built with two brick walls joined together. Semi-detached houses are usually in the suburbs, which are near the town centre. Terraced houses and blocks of flats are mostly in the town centre. These are often the inner city areas which have the poorest people and the highest crime. Although not always, it depends on whether it is a working class area, or a middle class area. Also the area may have changed over time from an area of rich people to an area of poor people. In such cases (for example, New Cross in London), the big Georgian and Victorian houses have been divided up into lots of flats. Where one large house would have had one family and some servants, it may now have 5-10 families. Most British people prefer houses to flats, (about 80% of British people live in houses, In Britain, p. 32, and 18% of British people live in flats, Window on Britain, 2004.), and they prefer to have a garden. About 67% of British people own their houses or flats. What about Japanese people? The rest are ‘renting’ i.e. living in rented accommodation. It is cheaper to buy than to rent, although this may not be possible. The prices of houses depend on the area of the town, and the area of Britain. A 6 bedroom farmhouse in the North of Scotland, or in Devon would cost the same as a 1 bedroom flat in London.

Housing in the south of England, and in London in particular is now a big problem as the prices have exploded over the few years, and first-time buyers cannot afford to buy a house. They cannot get onto the housing ladder. If a person already had a house before the prices rose, then they are in a very good position.

you can find out more about Georgian architecture and life HERE.

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