Please note: We have mainly written about England, as that is the country within the UK where our students live. We would be very happy for schools and visitors to send us information we can add to our website on Wales and Scotland.
请注意：我们主要写的是英格兰，这个学生居住的所属英国联合王国的国土。如果有其他的学校或者访问者给我们发来资料以供丰富我们威尔士和苏格兰的网站，我们对此将非常欢迎。
Most people in England live in urban areas. Towns and cities are spreading into their surrounding environment to cope with the increase populations. In England, an average of 7,000 hectares of farmland, countryside and green space were converted to urban use every year between 1985 and 1998. This is almost the equivalent size of 9,600 international football pitches!
在英格兰，多数人都居住在城区。由于人口的增长，城镇和城市不断的向其周边地区扩展。1985~1998年间，平均每年英格兰都有约7000公顷的耕地，农村用地和绿地改为了城市用地。这几乎等同于9600个国际足球场的大小。
This house is over 600 years old
这个房子大约有600多年的历史
Who owns houses in England?
在英格兰什么人拥有房屋？
More people are buying their own homes than in the past. About two thirds of the people in England and the rest of Britain either own, or are in the process of buying, their own home. Most others live in houses or flats that they rent from a private landlord, the local council, or housing association.
与过去相比较，越来越多的人开始购买房屋居住。三分之二的英格兰人和英国其他地区的人都拥有着或者正在购买自己的住房，其余的人多数选择租房居住，从房东个人，当地市政服务机构或者住房联盟出处租得。
People buying their property almost always pay for it with a special loan called a mortgage, which they must repay, with interest, over a long period of time, usually 25 years.
几乎所有的人购置房产向来都选择一种特殊的贷款形式——抵押贷款，这种贷款需要还本付息，贷期较长，通常为25年。
What are houses in England like?
英格兰的住房什么样子？
Most houses in England are made of stone or brick from the local area where the houses are built. The colours of the stones and bricks vary across the country.
在英格兰，大多数房子都是用取材于当地的砖头石块建造而成的。所以全国的房屋也会因为石块的不同而呈现各种各样的颜色。
Types of houses in England
英格兰房屋的种类
England has many types of homes. In the large cities, people often live in apartments, which are called flats. In most towns, there are streets of houses joined together in long rows. They are called terraced houses.
在英格兰，房屋的种类很多。大城市里的人通常居住在套房里，也就是俗称的公寓。在多数市镇中，你会看到整街的房屋连成排，我们称之为台阶式房屋。
The main types of houses in England are:
Detached (a house not joined to another house)
Semi-detached (two houses joined together)
Terrace (several houses joined together)
Flats (apartments)
Photos of the different types of houses
英格兰主要的房屋样式如下：
独栋式（不与其他房屋相连）
半独栋式（两栋房屋相连）
联排式（几栋房屋相连）
公寓（套房）
Census 2001: Housing
2001年住房统计：
The most popular type of home in England is semi-detached (more than 27% of all homes), closely followed by detached then terraced.
英格兰最受欢迎的房屋样式是半独栋式（超过房屋总量的27%），紧跟着的是独栋式，然后是联排式。
Almost half of London's households are flats, maisonettes or apartments.
Information taken from Census 2001
在伦敦，几乎一半的房屋是公寓,双层套房或者普通套房。据2001年的统计信息。
Cost of Houses
住房的花费
A big problem in England is the rising cost of houses. In 1989 first-time buyers paid an average of around ￡40,000, in 2001 this had more than doubled to ￡85,000 and in 2006 to ￡151,565.
房价越来越高在英格兰已经成为一个大问题。1989年，初次购房者平均只需支付约4万英镑,而到了2001年却翻了两倍多，变为8.5万英镑，2006年这个数字则飙升到15.1565万英镑。
The cost of housing in England has increased much faster than people's wages making it impossible for first-time buyers to get on the housing ladder unless they are in especially well-paid jobs, are able to call upon rich relatives or are prepared to buy jointly with friends.
英格兰的房价涨幅比工资涨幅快得多，对于那些初次购房者，仅凭那点儿工资是很难加入购房的梯队了，除非找了个高薪的工作，或者向富有的亲戚寻求帮助，不然就是准备与朋友合买。
2003
Average wage per year: ￡20,000
平均年收入：2万英镑
Average house price: over ￡120,000.
房屋均价：超过12万英镑
2007 2007年：
Average wage per year: ￡23,244
平均年收入：2.3244万英镑
Average house price: ￡184,924
房屋均价：18.4924万英镑
Cost of Houses in 2005 Cost of Houses in 2007
(source) 2005年房屋售价
Average Cost: ￡182,920均价：18.2920万英镑
Detached: ￡282,157独栋：28.2157万英镑
Semi-detached: ￡169,074半独栋：16.9074万英镑
Terraced: ￡139,122联排：13.9122万英镑
2007年房屋售价（源）
Flat: ￡168,571公寓：16.8571万英镑
Average Cost: ￡184,924
Detached: ￡285,697独栋：28.5679万英镑
Semi-detached: ￡170,650半独栋：17.0650万英镑
Terraced: ￡143,512联排：14.3512万英镑
Flat: ￡174,052 公寓:17.4052万英镑
2003年：
Chartwell House - Winston Churchill once lived here
查特韦尔庄园—温斯顿丘吉尔曾在此居住
