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An apartment is a
self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a
building. Apartments may be owned (by an owner/occupier) or
rented (by tenants).
A common alternative term for apartment is flat. The term
apartment is favored in North America, whereas the term flat
is commonly, but not exclusively, used in the United Kingdom,
Ireland and the Commonwealth nations. In Malaysian English,
flat often denotes a housing block of lesser quality meant for
lower-income groups, while apartment is more generic and may
also include luxury condominiums.
In the US, some
Toledo apartment dwellers own
their own apartments, either as co-ops, in which the residents
own shares of a corporation that owns the building or
development; or in condominiums, whose residents own their
apartments and share ownership of the public spaces. Most
apartments are in buildings designed for the purpose, but
large older houses are sometimes divided into apartments. The
word apartment connotes a residential unit or section in a
building. In some locations, particularly the United States,
the word denotes a rental unit owned by the building owner,
and is not typically used for a condominium. |
