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64-447: 22°16′58″N 114°12′59″E  /  22.28278°N 114.21639°E  / 22.28278; 114.21639 Kornhill and Kornhill Gardens are apartment buildings on the northern slope of Mount Parker , in Quarry Bay , Hong Kong Island , Hong Kong . Kornhill is a private housing estate and Kornhill Gardens is a Private Sector Participation Scheme estate. The total population

128-510: A building may be called an apartment building , apartment complex , flat complex , block of flats , tower block , high-rise or, occasionally, mansion block (in British English), especially if it consists of many apartments for rent. A high-rise apartment building is commonly referred to as a residential tower , apartment tower , or block of flats in Australia. A high-rise building

192-502: A building, generally on a single story. There are many names for these overall buildings (see below). The housing tenure of apartments also varies considerably, from large-scale public housing , to owner occupancy within what is legally a condominium ( strata title or commonhold ) or leasehold , to tenants renting from a private landlord. The term apartment is favoured in North America (although in some Canadian cities, flat

256-578: A common vertical wall are known as semi-detached , or colloquially semis . This form of construction is very common and built as such rather than being a later conversion. This type of apartment developed in the USA during the middle of the 20th century. The term initially described a living space created within a former industrial building, usually 19th century. These large apartments found favor with artists and musicians wanting accommodation in large cities (New York for example) and are related to unused buildings in

320-414: A door in the front and another in the back, or from an underground or otherwise attached parking structure. Depending on the building design, the entrance doors may be connected directly to the outside or to a common area inside, such as a hallway or a lobby. In many American cities, the one-plus-five style of mid-rise, wood-framed apartments have gained significant popularity following a 2009 revision to

384-422: A first-time homebuyer or having an income below a certain threshold. Home ownership gives occupants the right to modify the building and land as they please (subject to government, homeowner association , and deed restrictions), protects them from eviction , and creates a right to occupation which can be inherited. In some jurisdictions, it also confers certain legal rights with regard to abutters . Houses and

448-660: A fitness gymnasium, and a barbecue site is available to club members only. The Tai Tam (Quarry Bay Extension) Country Park is right next to Hong Shing Street. Kornhill has two constituencies within the Eastern District Council . Blocks A1 to M2, together with Sai Wan Terrace and The Floridian, are in the Kornhill (康怡) constituency. Blocks N1 to R2, and blocks 1 to 10 are in the Kornhill Gardens (康山) constituency. The current district council members of Kornhill to

512-506: A floor-ceiling assembly. Duplex description can be different depending on the part of the US, but generally has two to four dwellings with a door for each and usually two front doors close together but separate—referred to as ' duplex ', indicating the number of units, not the number of floors, as in some areas of the country they are often only one storey. Groups of more than two units have corresponding names (Triplex, etc.). Those buildings that have

576-407: A garden apartment shares some characteristics of a townhouse : each apartment has its own building entrance, or shares that entrance via a staircase and lobby that adjoins other units immediately above and/or below it. Unlike a townhouse, each apartment occupies only one level. Such garden apartment buildings are almost never more than three stories high, since they typically lack elevators . However,

640-425: A high-rise apartment building. In Russia , a communal apartment («коммуналка») is a room with a shared kitchen and bath. A typical arrangement is a cluster of five or so room-apartments with a common kitchen and bathroom and separate front doors, occupying a floor in a pre-Revolutionary mansion. Traditionally a room is owned by the government and assigned to a family on a semi-permanent basis. A serviced apartment

704-410: A luxury hotel, residents could enjoy the additional facilities such as house keeping, laundry, catering and other services if and when desired. A feature of these apartment blocks was quite glamorous interiors with lavish bathrooms but no kitchen or laundry spaces in each flat. This style of living became very fashionable as many upper-class people found they could not afford as many live-in staff after

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768-420: A mid-rise as a building between 4 and 12 stories. In American English , the distinction between rental apartments and condominiums is that while rental buildings are owned by a single entity and rented out to many, condominiums are owned individually, while their owners still pay a monthly or yearly fee for building upkeep. Condominiums are often leased by their owner as rental apartments. A third alternative,

832-639: A motivation to preserve or raise the value of their properties. Conversely, renters are incentivized to view local issues through a narrow lens, could be unmotivated to participate in civic life, and could see themselves as having little social utility. Compared to renters and absentee landlords, owner-occupiers are sometimes seen as more responsible toward property maintenance and community concerns, since they are more directly affected. Traditionally, home ownership has been encouraged by governments in Western countries (especially English-speaking countries ) because it

896-427: A negative connotation elsewhere. In India, the word " flat " is used to refer to multi-story dwellings that have lifts. Australian English and New Zealand English traditionally used the term flat (although it also applies to any rental property), and more recently also use the terms unit or apartment . In Australia, a ' unit ' refers to flats, apartments or even semi-detached houses. In Australia,

960-469: A residential building which is occupied separately, usually on more than one floor and having its own outside entrance." It differs from a flat in having usually more than one floor, with a staircase internal to the dwelling leading from the entrance floor to the upper (or, in some cases, lower) other floor. It is a very common arrangement in much post-war British housing (especially but not exclusively public housing) and serves both to reduce costs by reducing

1024-500: 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 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 arrangement is commonly known as a "share of freehold" flat. The freehold company has

1088-613: A shared bathroom. A bedsit is not self-contained and so is not an apartment or flat as this article uses the terms; it forms part of what the UK government calls a house in multiple occupation . The American variant of the bedsit is the single room occupancy . Merriam-Webster defines a garden apartment in American English as "a multiple-unit low-rise dwelling having considerable lawn or garden space." The apartment buildings are often arranged around courtyards that are open at one end. Such

1152-445: A tenant moves in with his own furniture. Serviced apartments , intended to be convenient for shorter stays, include soft furnishings and kitchen utensils , and maid service . Laundry facilities may reside in a common area accessible to all building tenants, or each apartment may have its own facilities. Depending on when the building was built and its design, utilities such as water, heating, and electricity may be common for all of

1216-633: A term denoting prestigious apartment buildings from the Victorian and Edwardian , which usually feature an ornate facade and large, high-ceilinged flats with period features. Danchi is the Japanese word for a large cluster of apartment buildings of a particular style and design, typically built as public housing by government authorities. See Housing in Japan . The smallest self-contained apartments are referred to as studio, efficiency or bachelor apartments in

1280-533: A third storey are known as triplexes. See Three-decker (house) In the United States, regional forms have developed, see vernacular architecture . In Milwaukee , a Polish flat or "raised cottage" is a small house that has been lifted up to accommodate a basement floor housing a separate apartment, then set down again, thus becoming a modest pair of dwellings. In the Sun Belt , boxy small apartment buildings called dingbats , often with carports below, sprang up from

1344-422: A view of and access to a garden or lawn", although its citations acknowledge that the reference to a garden may be illusory. "Garden flat" can serve simply as a euphemism for a basement. The large Georgian or Victorian townhouse was built with an excavated subterranean space around its front known as an area , often surrounded by cast iron railings. This lowest floor housed the kitchen, the main place of work for

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1408-423: Is any-size space for residential living that includes regular maid and cleaning services provided by the rental agent. Serviced apartments or serviced flats developed in the early part of the 20th century and were briefly fashionable in the 1920s and 30s. They are intended to combine the best features of luxury and self-contained apartments, often being an adjunct of a hotel . Like guests semi-permanently installed in

1472-463: Is approximately 30,000. The name comes from a small hill within the area close to the foot of Mount Parker. Kornhill was the site of the company residence of the senior manager of the Taikoo Sugar Refinery and the first senior manager was Ferdinand Korn. The hill was almost levelled by the early 1980s, and can hardly be recognised. The modern-day housing estate was constructed in concert with

1536-414: Is defined by its height differently in various jurisdictions . It may be only residential, in which case it might also be called a tower block, or it might include other functions such as hotels, offices, or shops. There is no clear difference between a tower block and a skyscraper , although a building with fifty or more stories is generally considered a skyscraper. High-rise buildings became possible with

1600-517: Is generally used only in the context of a specific building. "Mixed-use buildings" combine commercial and residential uses within the same structure. Typically, mixed-use buildings consist of businesses on the lower floors (often retail in street-facing ground floor and supporting subterranean levels) and residential apartments on the upper floors. 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

1664-482: Is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 14. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money) and North Point Government Primary School. There are nine kindergartens : Greeneries are all around the residential areas. A clubhouse, in two phases (one near Block B and another near Block H) with two swimming pools, six tennis courts, one squash court,

1728-426: Is more generic and may also include luxury condominiums. In Japanese English loanwords ( Wasei-eigo ), the term apartment ( アパート apaato ) is used for lower-income housing and mansion ( マンション manshon ) is used for high-end apartments; but both terms refer to what English-speakers regard as an apartment. This use of the term mansion has a parallel with British English 's mansion block ,

1792-487: Is their use of two separate front doors onto the street, each door leading to a single flat. "Maisonette" could also stretch to cottage flats , also known as 'four-in-a-block flats', a style of housing common in Scotland. The vast majority of apartments are on one level, hence "flat". Some, however, have two storeys joined internally by stairs, just like many houses. One term for this is "maisonette", as above. Some housing in

1856-478: Is used for a unit which is part of a house containing two or three units, typically one to a floor ). In the UK, the term apartment is more usual in professional real estate and architectural circles where otherwise the term flat is used commonly, but not exclusively, for an apartment on a single level (hence a "flat" apartment). In some countries, the word " unit " is a more general term referring to both apartments and rental business suites . The word 'unit'

1920-499: The Classic Period Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan , apartments were not only the standard means of housing the city's population of over 200,000 inhabitants, but show a remarkably even wealth distribution for the entire city, even by contemporary standards. Furthermore, the apartments were inhabited by the general populace as a whole, in contrast to other Pre-Modern socieites, where apartments were limited to housing

1984-651: The Eastern District Council are NGAI Chi Ho Derek and LEUNG Siu Sun Patrick. In the Legislative Council elections, Kornhill belongs to the Hong Kong Island constituency. Apartment building An apartment ( American English , Canadian English ), flat ( British English , Indian English , South African English ) , or unit ( Australian English ) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate ) that occupies part of

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2048-499: The HOS Scheme . Blocks A1 to H2 are on Hong Shing Street ( 康盛街 ). Blocks J1 to M2 are on Hong Yue Street ( 康愉街 ). Blocks N1 to R2 are on Hong On Street ( 康安街 ). There is no block I, O, and S to Z. Blocks 1 to 10 are on southern side (western bound) of King's Road . MTR Property is responsible for management. They were developed by Hang Lung , New World Development , and MTR Property . There are two primary schools : Kornhill

2112-537: The International Building Code ; these buildings typically feature four wood-framed floors above a concrete podium and are popular with developers due to their high density and relatively lower construction costs. The Puebloan peoples of what is now the Southwestern United States have constructed large, multi-room dwellings, some comprising more than 900 rooms, since the 10th century. In

2176-572: The MTR Island line and opened by 1987. There are a total 44 blocks, with heights ranging from 20 to 34 storeys, including 42 conventional residential buildings, one block of serviced apartments, and an office tower. The residential blocks in Kornhill are named after English letters and there are two blocks of each letter (i.e. A1, A2, D1, D2, P1, P2.) In Kornhill Gardens, the blocks are named in Arabic numbers from 1 to 10. Kornhill Gardens blocks are sold under

2240-448: The cooperative apartment building (or " co-op "), acts as a corporation with all of the tenants as shareholders of the building. Tenants in cooperative buildings do not own their apartment, but instead own a proportional number of shares of the entire cooperative. As in condominiums, cooperators pay a monthly fee for building upkeep. Co-ops are common in cities such as New York, and have gained some popularity in other larger urban areas in

2304-578: The downtown (British English town- or city-centre area have the benefits of proximity to jobs and/or public transportation . However prices per square foot are often much higher than in suburban areas. Moving up in size from studio flats are one-bedroom apartments, which contain a bedroom enclosed from the other rooms of the apartment, usually by an internal door. This is followed by two-bedroom, three-bedroom, etc. Apartments with more than three bedrooms are rare. Small apartments often have only one entrance. Large apartments often have two entrances, perhaps

2368-493: The welfare state . Conversely, when housing prices drop, homeowners are more likely to favor government intervention. In the US, areas with high rates of homeownership have higher levels of voter turnout . There is also a weak relationship between homeownership and supporting Republican candidates. Data from the UK supports the idea that homeowners view the value of their home as a kind of private, informal insurance policy against economic shocks. A sufficiently valuable home protects

2432-514: The 1950s. In the United Kingdom the term duplex is usually applied to an apartment with two storeys (with an internal staircase), neither of which is located at ground level. Such homes are frequently found in low-cost rental housing, in apartment blocks constructed by local authorities, or above street-level retail units, where they may be occupied by the occupier of the retail unit or rented out separately. Buildings containing two dwellings with

2496-620: The First World War and revelled in a "lock-up and leave" life style that serviced apartment hotels supplied. Some buildings have been subsequently renovated with standard facilities in each apartment, but serviced apartment hotel complexes continue to be constructed. Recently a number of hotels have supplemented their traditional business model with serviced apartment wings, creating privately owned areas within their buildings - either freehold or leasehold . Apartments may be available for rent furnished, with furniture, or unfurnished into which

2560-404: The U.S. In British English & Canadian English the usual word is " flat ", but apartment is used by property developers to denote expensive "flats" in exclusive and expensive residential areas in, for example, parts of London such as Belgravia and Hampstead . In Scotland, it is called a block of flats or, if it is a traditional sandstone building, a tenement , a term which has

2624-430: The US and Canada, or studio flat in the UK. These units usually consist of a large single main room which acts as the living room, dining room and bedroom combined and usually also includes kitchen facilities, with a separate bathroom. In Korea, the term "one room" ( wonroom ) refers to a studio apartment. A bedsit is a UK variant on single room accommodation: a bed-sitting room, probably without cooking facilities, with

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2688-499: The United Kingdom , both public and private, was designed as scissor section flats . On a grander level, penthouses may have more than one storey to emphasise the idea of space and luxury. Two-storey units in new construction are sometimes referred to as " townhouses " in some countries (though not usually in Britain). " Duplex " refers to two separate units horizontally adjacent, with a common demising wall , or vertically adjacent, with

2752-412: The amount of space given to access corridors and to emulate the 'traditional' two-storey terraced house to which many of the residents had been accustomed. It also allows for apartments, even when they are accessed by a corridor, to have windows on both sides of the building. A maisonette could encompass Tyneside flats , pairs of single-storey flats within a two-storey terrace . Their distinctive feature

2816-646: The annual household income. Given the high cost, most individuals do not have enough savings on hand to pay the entire amount outright. In developed countries, mortgage loans are available from financial institutions in return for interest . If the home owner fails to meet the agreed repayment schedule, a foreclosure (known as a repossession in some countries) may result. Many countries offer aid to prospective homebuyers to make their purchases. These measures include grants, subsidized mortgages, and mortgage guarantees. Prospective homebuyers may have to meet certain qualifications to qualify for government aid, such as being

2880-575: The apartments, or separate for each apartment and billed separately to each tenant. (Many areas in the US have ruled it illegal to split a water bill among all the tenants, especially if a pool is on the premises.) Outlets for connection to telephones are typically included in apartments. Telephone service is optional and is almost always billed separately from the rent payments. Cable television and similar amenities also cost extra. Parking space(s), air conditioning , and extra storage space may or may not be included with an apartment. Rental leases often limit

2944-455: The decaying parts of such cities being occupied illegally by people squatting . These loft apartments were usually located in former high-rise warehouses and factories left vacant after town planning rules and economic conditions in the mid 20th century changed. The resulting apartments created a new bohemian lifestyle and were arranged in a completely different way from most urban living spaces, often including workshops and art studio spaces. As

3008-548: The first "garden apartment" buildings in New York, US, built in the early 1900s, were constructed five stories high. Some garden apartment buildings place a one-car garage under each apartment. The interior grounds are often landscaped. In Chicago , a garden apartment refers to a basement apartment . The Oxford English Dictionary defines the use of "garden flat" in British English as "a basement or ground-floor flat with

3072-554: The first examples of apartments popularly named 'salon apartments', with the concept of spatial and functional organization later spreading to other larger urban centers in Yugoslavia. Maisonette (a corruption of maisonnette , French for "little house" and originally the spelling in English as well, but it has since fallen into disuse) has no strict definition, but the OED suggests "a part of

3136-490: The homeowner intends to move at a future date. Some home owners see their purchase as an investment and intend to sell or to rent the property after renovating or letting the house appreciate in value (known as flipping if done quickly). Due to the fact that homeowners have a financial stake in their homes, being a homeowner is an economically efficient course of action. In order to improve their physical and mental well-being as well as their level of life satisfaction, they have

3200-427: The invention of the elevator (lift) and cheaper, more abundant building materials. Their structural system usually is made of reinforced concrete and steel . A low-rise building and mid-rise buildings have fewer stories, but the limits are not always clear. Emporis defines a low-rise as "an enclosed structure below 35 metres [115 feet] which is divided into regular floor levels." The city of Toronto defines

3264-409: The land they sit on are expensive, and the combination of monthly mortgage , insurance, maintenance and repairs, and property tax payments are sometimes greater than monthly rental costs. Buildings may also gain and lose substantial value due to real estate market fluctuations, and selling a property can take a long time, depending on market conditions. This can make home ownership more constraining if

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3328-495: The land, buildings and other assets of a property. In the United States, some apartment-dwellers own their units, either as a housing cooperative , in which the residents own shares of a corporation that owns the building or development; or in a condominium , 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

3392-467: The lower class members of the society, as with the somewhat contemporary Roman insulae . Owner occupancy Some homes are constructed by the owners with the intent to occupy. Many are inherited . A large number are purchased, as new homes from a real estate developer or as an existing home from a previous landlord or owner-occupier. A house is usually the most expensive single purchase an individual or family makes, and often costs several times

3456-567: The mailboxes or some other location accessible by outsiders, a buzzer (equivalent to a doorbell ) may be available for each individual unit. In smaller apartment buildings such as two- or three-flats, or even four-flats, rubbish is often disposed of in trash containers similar to those used at houses. In larger buildings, rubbish is often collected in a common trash bin or dumpster. For cleanliness or minimizing noise, many lessors will place restrictions on tenants regarding smoking or keeping pets in an apartment. In more urban areas, apartments close to

3520-623: The main house, or a free-standing structure in its grounds. Salon apartment is a term linked to the exclusive apartments built as part of multi-family houses in Belgrade and in certain towns in Yugoslavia in the first decades of the 20th century. The structure of the apartments included centrally located anteroom with a combined function of the dining room and one or more salon areas. Most of these apartments were built in Belgrade ( Serbia ), along with

3584-425: The maximum number of residents in each apartment. On or around the ground floor of the apartment building, a series of mailboxes are typically kept in a location accessible to the public and, thus, to the mail carrier . Every unit typically gets its own mailbox with individual keys to it. Some very large apartment buildings with a full-time staff may take mail from the carrier and provide mail-sorting service. Near

3648-441: The owner without need for government intervention. Source: Housing Finance Information Network (HOFINET) Homeowners are usually required to pay property tax (or millage tax) periodically. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state, a county or geographical region, or a municipality. Multiple jurisdictions may tax

3712-409: The owner's family member, the self-contained dwelling may be known as an "in-law apartment", "annexe", or "granny flat", though these (sometimes illegally) created units are often occupied by ordinary renters rather than the landlord's relative. In Canada these are commonly located below the main house and are therefore "basement suites". Another term is an "accessory dwelling unit", which may be part of

3776-462: 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 situation does not happen in Scotland, where long leasehold of residential property was formerly unusual, and is now impossible. Apartment buildings are multi-story buildings where three or more residences are contained within one structure. Such

3840-476: The servants, with a "tradesman's entrance" via the area stairs. This "lower ground floor" (another euphemism) has proven ideal for conversion to a self-contained "garden flat". One American term for this arrangement is an English basement . Generally on the lowest (below ground) floor of a building. A unit in the attic of a building and usually converted from domestic servants' quarters. These apartments are characterized by their sloping walls, which can restrict

3904-399: The supply of old buildings of a suitable nature has dried up, developers have responded by constructing new buildings in the same aesthetic with varying degrees of success. [1] An industrial, warehouse, or commercial space converted to an apartment is commonly called a loft , although some modern lofts are built by design. A penthouse is an apartment usually located on the top floor of

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3968-514: The terms " unit ", " flat " and " apartment " are largely used interchangeably. Newer high-rise buildings are more often marketed as " apartments ", as the term " flats " carries colloquial connotations. The term condominium or condo is rarely used in Australia despite attempts by developers to market it. In Malaysian English , flat often denotes a housing block of two rooms with walk-up, no lift, without facilities, typically five stories tall, and with outdoor parking space, while apartment

4032-411: The usable space; the resultant stair climb in buildings that do not have elevators and the sloping walls can make garret apartments less desirable than units on lower floors. However, because these apartments are located on the top floors of their buildings, they can offer the best views and are quieter because of the lack of upstairs neighbours. When part of a house is converted for the ostensible use of

4096-470: Was thought to help people acquire wealth, to encourage savings, and promote civic engagement . However, the housing market crash of 2008 in most of the English-speaking world has caused academic and policy-makers to question this logic. Owning a home influences how an individual views the role of government. Data from OECD countries shows that when housing prices rise, individuals are more critical of

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