Apartment facts for kids
An apartment (also called a flat in Britain and many other Commonwealth countries) is a home that is part of a larger building. People pay money to the owner of the building to live there. The owner is called the landlord, and the people living in the apartment are called tenants. The money they pay is called rent. So, when you pay to live in an apartment, you are "renting" it from the landlord.
An apartment building usually has many apartments inside it. Each apartment is its own separate space, like a room or a set of rooms, where people live. Sometimes, an apartment might be just one small room, and the people living there share other rooms like the bathroom or kitchen with others. In other buildings, each apartment has its own bathroom and kitchen. People might only share an entrance hallway that leads to many different apartments. A janitor or concierge often looks after these shared areas.
An apartment complex is a group of several apartment buildings. All the buildings in an apartment complex are usually built in a similar style.
In many apartments, tenants only pay the landlord for the rent. They then pay other companies for things like utilities, such as electricity and heat. However, in some apartments, especially those in larger complexes, the rent might be higher. In return, the landlord might include utilities, access to laundry rooms (where people wash their clothing), exercise rooms, or parking spaces for cars. Many people like this because it means they have fewer bills to keep track of each month.
Apartment buildings are very common in cities. This is because there isn't much space in a city for many separate houses. Building a house for just one family in a dense city would cost a lot more money than building one outside the city.
Types of Apartments
Studio Apartment
A studio apartment is a special kind of apartment where the living room, bedroom, and other areas are all in one large room. Usually, the bathroom is the only separate room. It's a compact and efficient living space.
Garden Apartment
A garden apartment building is usually not very tall, often just two or three stories high. These buildings are often built around a central courtyard or garden area. Sometimes, a garden apartment might even have its own entrance and a garage for one car underneath it.
Images for kids
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Apartments facing Central Park in Midtown Manhattan, New York City
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Apartments in Madrid, Spain
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Different types of apartments in Minato, Tokyo, Japan
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A block of flats in Birmingham, England
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Low-income housing in the St. James Town neighborhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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High-rise buildings in the English Bay area of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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A low-rise building of flats above shops in Fátima, Portugal
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Studio apartment in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, showing a double bed, kitchenette, and entrance way with a sliding closet door
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Georgian terraced townhouses in London, England. The black railings enclose the basement areas, which were converted to garden flats.
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A dingbat, "The Mary & Jane", with styled balconies.
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Mid-rise One-plus-five style apartment buildings in Austin, Texas.
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Remains of an Ancient Roman apartment block from the early 2nd century AD in Ostia
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The Chestnut Hill, an 1899 apartment house in Newton, Massachusetts
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Tenement buildings in Manhattan's Lower East Side
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New condominiums in downtown Toronto
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The skyline of the Gold Coast in Queensland is dominated by apartments.
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The Canterbury in St Kilda, Victoria is one of the earliest surviving apartment buildings in Australia.
See also
In Spanish: Apartamento para niños