Difference between apartment and flat?

copacetic

penana wrote: »

Isn't it just another example of the creeping Americanisation of the English language? For example, along with flats becoming "apartments," we now have "pharmacies" instead of chemists, "elevators" increasingly in place of lifts, and even on some supermarket shelves, certain types of biscuits suddenly being called, "cookies." But with any luck, we'll still know the difference between crisps and chips!

No. Americanisation would mean we would call them condos.

amtc

Conversation I have had with an English friend over many years, and we have looked into this extensively.

Three girls in our group of friends have bought apartments - these are purpose built dwellings. We resented him calling them flats.

Flats to us are a step up from bedsits.

Flats to him were the same as apartments.

ezra_pound

I thought that a flat had it's own entrance. Whereas an apartment has a common entrance and then a private inner entrance. So the corpo flats have no entrance until you're in the actual flat.

ezra_pound

Likewise granny flats etc. All have direct entrance, no private restricted common area.

Duckjob

3DataModem wrote: »

Many Americans refer to them as condominiums. Weird.

AFAIK, they refer it as a condominium (or condo) when the occupier owns it, and an apartment if they're renting it.

Boom__Boom

For me the distinction would have been that a flat was something built by the Council/Corporation and that everything else was an apartment, based on the fact that I never heard of a non-corpo or non-council flat.

Basically in terms of design/size/features etc there would be no actual difference between a flat and an apartment but that a flat was a type of apartment provided by the Council or the Corporation.

To me it it looks like there is no actual legal difference in Ireland between flat and apartment.

Given the wide range of answers so far, it seems that its one of those things that is open to individual interpretation and that there is no one correct answer.

knipex

Duckjob wrote: »

AFAIK, they refer it as a condominium (or condo) when the occupier owns it, and an apartment if they're renting it.

to my knowledge a condo complex will have a number of shated amenities such as a pool, gym, larger gardens etc. Plus a seperate entrance to each unit (no shared hallways).

An apartment complex tends not to have these extra amenities and may have shared hallways...

Flats to me were allways older, primarily converted houses or poor quality 60's style attempts at high density housing. The use of the word apartment was introduced to seperate modern units from the stigma many associated with "flats"..

Santa Cruz

marketty wrote: »

Flats on the Northside = Apartments on the Southside...

Apartments generally come with a management company who charge you a flat fee each year for services such as clamping you in your own parking space and telling you to take your washing in off the balcony

I haven't heard Priory Hall called Priory Hall Flats and its well Northside.
And you sound that you would be more suited to a Flat.
I would prefer not to live in an apartment complex where people hang out their washing on the balcony. That's why I understand the concept of proper apartment management.

marketty

Santa Cruz wrote: »

And you sound that you would be more suited to a Flat.

Em, thanks ??
I'm more of a house man myself tbh.

Maybe the humorous intent of my post has been lost in the past few months