Basically, the British say flat, not apartment. The ownership structure is as follows: The UK equivalent of a condominium is a commonhold property, with common areas and freehold areas (private areas). And flats in this case are owned by unit-holders.
In British English the usual word is "flat", but apartment is used by property developers to denote expensive "flats" in exclusive and expensive residential areas in, for example, parts of London such as Belgravia and Hampstead.
As with many 'Americanisms', the British use "apartment" on occasion but with different meaning or subtext. In British English, the generally used word for a space in which you live that is in a shared building is "flat" (with some variations and provisos that are not relevant here).
An apartment is a more commonly used American term for a cluster of rooms that could be over one floor. A flat is a British term for a set of rooms that forms a residence within one floor.
The etymology of flat originates from the Old English word “flett,” dating back to the 1300s. The term means level and in one plane, which nowadays relates to many different things, such as a deflated tire, lying prone, and a dwelling on one story. Hence, the term flat is used to describe a one-level apartment.
Yankee is sometimes abbreviated as “Yank.” People from all over the world, including Great Britain, Australia, and South America, use the term to describe Americans. (In Spanish, it's spelled yanqui.) Sometimes, it's a negative description.
In Western architecture, a living room, also called a lounge room (Australian English), lounge (British English), sitting room (British English), or drawing room, is a room for relaxing and socializing in a residential house or apartment.
In the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand, the term chips is generally used instead, though thinly cut fried potatoes are sometimes called french fries or skinny fries, to distinguish them from chips, which are cut thicker.
Hire is more common in British English and rent is more common in American English. We hired a car from a local car agency and drove across the island. He rented a car for the weekend. If you make a series of payments in order to use something for a long period, you say that you rent it.
In many English-speaking countries outside North America, including the United Kingdom, the most common word for a crisp cookie is "biscuit". The term "cookie" is normally used to describe chewier ones. However, in many regions both terms are used. The container used to store cookies may be called a cookie jar.
In British English, "bathroom" is a common term but is typically reserved for private rooms primarily used for bathing; a room without a bathtub or shower is more often known as a "WC", an abbreviation for water closet, "lavatory", or "loo". Other terms are also used, some as part of a regional dialect.
Couch is predominantly used in North America, Australia, South Africa, and Ireland, whereas the terms sofa and settee (U and non-U) are most commonly used in the United Kingdom and India. The word couch originated in Middle English from the Old French noun couche, which derived from the verb meaning "to lie down".
Much of our modern alphabet comes directly from the Greek alphabet, including a letter, that looked just like our “Z,” that the Greeks called “zeta.” “Zeta” evolved into the French “zede,” which in turn gave us “zed” as English was shaped by Romance languages like French.
Bloody, as an adjective or adverb, is an expletive attributive commonly used in British English, Irish English, and Australian English; it is also present in Canadian English, Indian English, Malaysian/Singaporean English, South African English, and a number of other Commonwealth nations.
An umbrella may also be called a brolly (UK slang), parapluie (nineteenth century, French origin), rainshade, gamp (British, informal, dated), or bumbershoot (rare, facetious American slang). When used for snow, it is called a paraneige.
For decades, the British construction industry got away with building scantily insulated, poorly oriented houses. The country was quick to industrialise, so burning cheap coal could take the edge off the coldest days, while summers were cooler than they are now.
The word 'maisonette' originates from French and translates to 'little house'. Across much of Europe, even holiday cottages can be classed as a maisonette. However, here in the UK, a maisonette is a self-contained two-floor flat, within a larger building, with its own staircase and entrance.
Lifts and elevator are synonyms. The only difference is that elevator is an American term, and lift is a British term for the same type of machinery. Both are used interchangeably and refer to the device that carries people and goods to different building levels.
Condo, which is short for condominium, is mostly the subset of apartments where the individual living units are owned by different people. That isn't to say that the actual people living in each unit own the unit, because they may be renting from someone else that owns the individual unit.
