There are 22 million homes in Britain - big homes and small homes, old
cottages and new buildings, houses and flats. (Americans say "apartment"
but British people say "flat"). Many British people love old houses and
these are often more expensive than modern ones. They also love
gardening and you will see gardens everywhere you go: in towns, villages
and out in the country. Some are very small with just one tree and a
few flowers. Others are enormous with plenty of flowers and enough
vegetables and fruit trees. Two third of the families in Britain own
their houses. Millions of these houses are the same with two or three
bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, dining-room and kitchen downstairs. To
pay for their house, home owners borrow money from a "building society"
and pay back a little every month.
There are a great many different kinds of homes in Britain, but there
are not enough! It is often very difficult for young people to find a
home when they want to start a family. British homes are usually smaller
than American homes. But like in America, in Britain the older
generation of the family and their married children do not usually live
together.
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