The Key Differences between US and UK houses

When it comes to thinking about the differences between life in the UK vs in the US, you may start by thinking about the food, how they drive on the opposite sides of the road, the vast amount of space they have, and the huge variance in accent depending on which state they live in. You may not think about the key differences in the houses there. See, in spite of similarities in language and pop culture tastes, living in a UK house is incredibly different to US houses.

Here are some of the main differences. 

The property types are called different things 

In the UK, you’d typically have; flats, terraced houses, town houses, semi-detached, detached, maisonettes, and bungalows. In the US, however, their counterparts are called; apartments, townhouses, duplexes. 

The area outside your property if you’re lucky enough? In the UK, that’s called a garden, whereas in the US, it’s called a yard. A ‘garden’ in the US is where vegetables and other produce is grown, also known as an ‘allotment’ in the UK. 

You get a lot more house for your money in the US 

Average floor plans are much bigger in the US. For example, a studio apartment in London, England is roughly 37 sq m, whereas in the US, the smallest studio you’re going to get is roughly 46 sq m–and that would be considered TINY. 

An average family home in the US consists of 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms  (the .5 being a ‘half bath’ which is a sink and a toilet) and two reception rooms. The cost varies state by state in the same way that a house in Northern England could cost over 100,000 gbp less than the exact same property in London. If you take a look at the website for real estate agents, Compass, then you’ll see the price and square footage (another key difference is the unit of measurement used- be prepared to use a conversion tool if you can’t do it off hand!)  for what would be considered a highly desirable area to live in, just outside of Nashville in the state of Tennessee. 

Pexels-CC0 licence ‘British’ kitchen 

Floor plans are a lot more open in the US 

In British houses, the ground floor (or first floor in the US) would usually consist of a living room, a kitchen and possibly a dining area. Some UK houses will have a downstairs bathroom or ‘cloakroom’ (just another way of saying toilet and sink). And the bedrooms and family bathroom would be upstairs.
In the US, most downstairs floorplans are much more open. While the houses will also have the same elements, they’d all be found in one room stretched out- particularly in more modern built houses. 

There’d be a lot more built in storage in US houses, so forget having to buy freestanding wardrobes (closets) or kitchen cupboards–walk in closets and pantries are very common in US houses. 

There are a huge number of key differences between the US and UK houses- what are some that you have noticed? 

Pexels-CC0 Licence ‘American’ Kitchen