Why do they call an apartment, a "flat" in London?

Question

Is it just used in London or in other places as well? Are flats rentals or owned or both? Just curious and want to learn as much info. as possible about this. Thanks.

Answer 1

many houses in England were seperately built, and usually had two or three floors or stories.As the population grew,and space became limited;seperate floors were rented out to different people.So each floor which was on one level(or flat),became known as Flat1,2,3, and so forth..Then of course flats grew to be enormous buildings with hundreds of flats.

Here in New Zealand we call them flats.Usually all flats are together side by side,on one level.Some are joined together,others are seperate.In America you call them apartments.Of course there are also other areas called Condinimiums,and Penthouses.

Answer 2

in Britain we call apartments flats, i do not know why, guess it is just a difference between cultures.