Re: Not always joking, it seems

Colette Reap wrote:
> Tim Merrigan <tppm@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> 
>> On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:53:26 +0000, Colette Reap <colette@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> David Friedman <ddfr@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Any idea what fraction of the households in the UK own their own
houses?
>>> Yes. Looked it up a couple of years ago when someone (from outside the
>>> UK) claimed that very few people in the UK owned their own home.
>>>
>>> The actual percentage of home owner****p in the UK is about 70%.
>> Need a definition of terms.  What constitutes a "home"?
>>
>> IME here in the US that term generally means a free standing house
>> owned by the tenants.
> 
> AFAIAA, the definition in the UK is not so narrow - a "home" in this
> context would be any dwelling (house or flat) that the occupant(s) are
> in the process of buying/have bought.
> 
> Someone who lived in a property that they were buying/had bought would
> never be referred to as a tenant - that's only used to describe people
> who are renting.
> 
> And you speak of free standing houses - what about what I believe you
> call row houses?
> 
>> Your flat, 
> 
> That was Jette talking about where she lives in Scotland...
> 
>> which you, contradictorily for US
>> terminology, referred to upthread as an apartment 
> 
> and I believe that in Scotland it is not unusual for flats to be
> called apartments. 
> 
>> Here that would make it a condominium unit 
> 
> As Jette, said elsethread, the word condominium is not used here at
> all. Nor are there separate words in English to differentiate between
> a flat that is rented and one that is owned.
> 
>> Also, IIUC condos aren't included in "homeowner" statistics.
> 
> I wonder why.

Technically (and this IS what I do for a living) the actual 
description is

"that dwellinghouse of three rooms and WC, being the northmost 
apartment on the second floor or flat above street level of the 
tenement known as 97 (street name)".

In short it's a flat.  Technically it's a dwellinghouse in a tenement. 
BTW, in Scotland tenements are the *desirable* housing options  - 
tower blocks and maisonettes are low class, usually council or housing 
association rentals. (if privately owned, they were probably bought 
cheaply from said council or housing association by a long term tenant 
under the "right to buy" legislation which was intended to get low 
paid tenants onto the "property owner****p ladder")(they can sell it on 
a few years later at profit)

-- 
Jette Goldie
jette@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
("reply to" is spamblocked - use the email addy in sig)