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An apartment (in American English) or a flat (in British English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies only part of a building. Such a building may be called an ''apartment building'', ''apartment complex'' (in American English), ''apartment house'' (in American English), ''block of flats'', ''tower block'', ''high-rise'' or, occasionally ''mansion block'' (in British English), especially if it consists of many apartments for rent. In Scotland it is called a block of flats or, if it's a traditional sandstone building, a ''tenement'', which has a pejorative connotation elsewhere. Apartments may be owned by an ''owner/occupier'', by leasehold tenure or rented by ''tenants'' (two types of housing tenure). ==Terminology== The term ''apartment'' is favoured in North America (although ''flat'' is used in the case of a unit which is part of a house containing two or three units, typically one to a floor) and also is the preferred term in Ireland. The term ''flat'' is commonly, but not exclusively, used in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong and most 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. This usage has also been appearing in British English where ''apartment'' is used to denote expensive 'flats' in exclusive and expensive residential areas in, for example, parts of London such as Belgravia and Hampstead. In Australian English, the term ''flat'' was traditionally used, but the term ''apartment'' is also frequently used, as is "unit", short for "home unit". Tenement law refers to the feudal basis of permanent property such as land or rents. It may be found combined as in "Messuage or Tenement" to encompass all the land, buildings and other assets of a property. In the United States, some 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'' denotes a residential unit or section in a building. In some locations, particularly the United States, the word connotes a rental unit owned by the building owner, and is not typically used for a condominium. In the England and Wales, some flat owners own shares in the company that owns the freehold of the building as well as holding the flat under a lease. This is commonly known as a "share of freehold" flat. The freehold company has the right to collect annual ground rents from each of the flat owners in the building. The freeholder can also develop or sell the building, subject to the usual planning and restrictions that might apply. This does not happen in Scotland, where long leasehold of residential property was formerly unusual, and is now not possible. In some countries the word unit is a more general term referring to both apartments and rental business suites. The word is generally used only in the context of a specific building; e.g., "This building has three units" or "I'm going to rent a unit in this building", but not "I'm going to rent a unit somewhere." In Australia, a unit refers to flats, apartments or even semi-detached houses. Some buildings can be characterized as ''mixed use buildings'', meaning part of the building is for commercial, business, or office use, usually on the first floor or first couple of floors, and there are one or more apartments in the rest of the building, usually on the upper floors. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「apartment」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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