Housing Preferences of the British

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Housing Preferences of the British

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Журавлевой Дарьей, ученицей 10 информационно-технологического класса

Руководитель: Блинова Е. Г.,

учитель английского языка

Саратов 2008

CONTENTS

Introduction ……………………………………………………………...2

Chapter 1. Houses or Flats ………………………………………………3

Chapter 2. Private Property and Public Property ………………………...4

Chapter 3. Types of Houses ……………………….……………………..5

Chapter 4. The Importance of “Home” ………………………………….7

Chapter 5. Individuality and Conformity   ................................................8

Chapter 6. Interiors: The Importance of Cosiness ……………………….9

Chapter 7. Owning and Renting …………………….…………………..11

Chapter 8. Homelessness ……………………………………………… 13

     Chapter  9. Should a Gentleman Build His House upon a Rock or upon

     the sand? …………………………………………………………………15

Conclusion ……………………………………………………………....25

Bibliography ……………………………………………….……………27

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INTRODUCTION

When I read “The Escape” by Somerset Maugham I was impressed by the witty way the main character had found out of a piquant situation.

“His name was Roger Charing. He was no longer young when he fell in love with Ruth Barlow…

Roger introduced her to his friends. He gave her lovely jewels. He took her here, there, and everywhere. Their marriage was announced for the immediate future. Roger was very happy…

Then, on a sudden, he fell out of love…

Roger kept his own counsel. He gave neither by word nor gesture an indication that his feelings towards Ruth Barlow had changed…he was sympathetic and charming. They had made up their minds that they would be married as soon as they found a house that suited them, for he lived in chambers and she in furnished rooms; and they set about looking at desirable residences… It was very hard to find anything that was quite satisfactory…They visited house after house…Roger always found a fault that made the house unsuitable. They looked at hundred of houses; climbed thousands of stairs…”

As a result “Ruth was exhausted and more than once lost her temper… For two years they looked at houses. Ruth grew silent and scornful…”

In the end of the story Roger got a letter from Ruth. The letter read:

“Roger,

I do not think you really love me. I have found someone who is anxious to take care of me and I am going to be married to him to-day.”

It seems the British were keen on the problem of housing. Otherwise how could Roger make Ruth keep looking for a suitable house for two years?

The story by Somerset Maugham gave me the idea of investigating whether the British pay so much attention to housing till now, what kind of houses are popular with the British, what their attitude to private property and to public property is, how                    important for the British people “home” is.

Besides, a modest attempt has been made to investigate a number of phraseological units containing words “home” and “house” and see what meanings they convey.

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CHAPTER 1

HOUSES OR FLATS

Almost everybody in Britain dreams of living in a detached house; that is, a house which is a separate building. The saying, “An English man's home is his castle” is well-known. It illustrates the desire for privacy which seems to be at the heart of the British attitude to housing.  

A large detached house not only ensures privacy. It is also a status symbol. The highest dream of the British is an aristocratic “stately home” set in acres of garden. Of course, such a house is an unrealistic dream for most people. But even a small detached house, surrounded by a garden, would be dear to the hearts of many British people. Most people would be happy to live in a thatched cottage, looking like a house of a pre-industrial age. Most people do not like living in blocks of flats. They think flats do not give enough privacy. With a few exceptions, mostly in certain parts of London, flats are the cheapest kind of home. The people who live in them are those who cannot afford to live anywhere else.

The dislike of living in flats is very strong. In the 1950s millions of poorer people lived in old, cold, uncomfortable nineteenth century houses, often with only an outside toilet and no bathroom. During the next twenty years many nice new “high rise” blocks of flats with central heating and bathrooms were built. They were much more comfortable and were surrounded by grassy open spaces. But people hated their new homes. They said they felt cut off from the world.  They couldn't keep a watchful eye on their children playing down there in those lovely green spaces. The new high-rise blocks were quickly destroyed. The lifts broke down. The lights in the corridors didn't work. Windows got broken and were not repaired. There was graffiti all over the walls.

In theory there is no objective reason why these high-rise blocks (also known as “tower blocks”) were not a success. In other countries millions of people live happily in flats. But in Britain they were a failure because they do not suit British attitudes. The failure of high rise blocks of flats has been recognized for several years now. No more high-rises are being built. At the present time, only 4% of the population lives in high-rise blocks of flats. Only 20% of the country's families live in flats of any kind.

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CHAPTER 2

PRIVATE PROPERTY AND PUBLIC PROPERTY

The idea of a home as a castle suggests a clear demarcation between private property and the public domain. Flats, on the other hand, suggest uncertainties. People who live in flats have a lot of questions: “Who do you share the corridor outside your flat with (with the residents on the same floor or with all residents of the block)? Is the foyer   downstairs for the people who live in the block or for the public in general? These uncertainties perhaps explain why the “communal” living is not popular in Britain.

Law and custom seem to support a clear separation between what is public and what is private. For example, people have no general right to reserve the road directly outside their house for their own cars. On the other hand, people seldom keep the bit of pavement outside their house clean and tidy. That is not their job. It is outside their territory.

                 People prefer to live in houses built a little back from the road. This way, they can have a front garden or a yard as a kind of buffer zone between them and the world. These areas are not usually very big. But they allow people to have low fences, or hedges around them. Usually, these barriers do not physically prevent even a two-year old child from entering, but they have psychological force. They announce to the world where the private property begins.

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CHAPTER 3

TYPES OF HOUSES

The most desirable home is a detached house.

 A detached house is the most expensive type of home. It stands on its own land and is not attached to another building. Such houses have privacy from neighbours, and they are ideal foe keen gardeners who can devote much time to work in their gardens.

The following builder’s advertisement tries to draw a potential buyer’s attention to the advantages of a modern detached house.

The advertisement says:

1. the “traditional” building materials of brick (the walls) and slate (the roof);
2. the irregular, “non-classical”, shape, with all those little corners, making
   the house feel 'cosy' ;
3. the suggestion of a large front garden with a tree and bushes, calling up not only the countryside but also giving greater privacy;
4.  that the garage (on the left) is hidden away, so that it is not too obvious and doesn't spoil the rural feeling;
5. that the front door is not even in the picture (the privacy standard at work again).

1. Second best is a semi-detached house.

1. Semi-detached houses are second best after detached houses as detached houses are too expensive for most people. So this is what a very large proportion of people live in: one building with separate household. Each house is the mirror of other, inside and out. These houses can be found, street after street, in the suburbs of cities and towns all over Britain. There are separate front gardens for each house. At the sides, there is access to the back, where there will also be two gardens. The most common building material is brick. The typical semi-detached has two floors and three bedrooms.

1. Less desirable is a terraced house.
2. This kind of house usually has no way through to the back except through the house itself. Each house in the row is joined to the next one. (Houses at the end of the row are a bit more desirable — they are the most like as semi-detached). They usually have two floors, with two bedrooms upstairs. Some have gardens back and front, others only at the back and others no garden at all. Before the 1960s, Britain had millions of terraced houses, most with no inside toilet or bathroom. Many of these were then knocked down, but in some areas those that have survived have become quite desirable – after repairs.

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1. An exception is the town house.
2. These houses, which can be found in the inner of most cities, are an exception to the general pattern. There is a great variety regarding both design and use. They often have three or more floors, perhaps including a basement or semi-basement. Although they are usually terraced, those are well- preserved and in a “good” area may be highly desirable.     Many have been broken up into flats or rooms for rent. Most of people who rent from private owners live in flats of this kind. Sometimes, these are “self-contained” flats (they have washing and cooking facilities and it is not necessary to walk through anybody else’s flat to get to your own); sometimes, they are bedsits’ (i.e. bed-sitting rooms; residents have one room to themselves and share washing and cooking facilities with other residents).

1. The stately home.
2. There is one exception to the rule that 'homes' are more important than 'houses'. This is among the aristocracy. Many of these families own fine old country houses, often with a great deal of land attached, in which they have lived for hundreds of years. They have a very great emotional investment in their houses — and are prepared to try very hard to stay in them. This can be very difficult in modern times, partly because of death duties.
3. So, in order to stay in their houses, many aristocrats live lives which are less physically comfortable than those of most people (they may not, for example, have central heating). Many have also turned their houses and land into tourist attractions. These are popular not only with foreign tourists. British visitors are also happy to be able to walk around in rural surroundings as they inspect a part of their country's history.

1. The least desirable: a flat
2. Flats are the least desirable. They have no separate entrance to the outside world. This does not suit British tastes. Though these houses are highly populated, Britain has the second lowest proportion of flat-dwellers in the European Union.

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9. CHAPTER 4
10. THE IMPORTANCE OF “HOME”

1. The British people feel little attachment to their house as an object, or to the land on which it stands. It is the abstract idea of “home” which is important, not the building. The house will be sold when the time and price is right and it’s the people will move into some other house which they will then turn into “home” - a home which they will love just as much as they did the previous one.
2. But the houses themselves are just investments. An illustration of this is that two-thirds of all inherited houses are very often sold by the people who inherit them, even if these people have lived there themselves at some time in their lives. Another is the fact that it is extremely rare for people to commission the building of their own houses. (Most houses are commissioned either by local government authorities -for poorer people to live in - or, more frequently, by private compan ies known as 'property developers' who sell them on the open market.)
3. This attitude is so dominant that it leads to a strange attitude to house prices. Whenever the prices fall, people think it is a “bad thing”. You might think that it would be a good thing, because people can then find somewhere to live more cheaply. After all, it is rising prices that are usually regarded as bad. But with houses it is the other way around. Falling prices mean that most people cannot afford to sell their house. They have borrowed a lot of money to buy it (sometimes more than its present value). To most British people, such immobility is a terrible misfortune.

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15. CHAPTER 5
16. INDIVIDUALITY AND CONFORMITY

1. Flats are not popular just because they do not give enough privacy. It is also because they do not give enough scope for the expression of individuality. People like to choose the colour of their own front door and window frames, and also to choose what they are going to do with a little bit of outside territory, however small that may be.
2. The opportunity which it gives for individual self-expression is another advantage of the front garden. In any one street, some are paved, some are full of flowerbeds with paths in between, and others are just patches of grass. Some are separated by walls, others by fences, others by hedges and some have no barrier at all. The possibilities for variety are almost endless!
3. However, not everything about housing in Britain shows indi viduality. Because most houses are built by organizations, not individuals, they are not usually built one at a time. Instead, whole streets, even neighbourhoods (often called “estates”), are built at the same time. For reasons of economy, all the houses on an estate are usually built to the same design. Streets in British towns often seem to be full of houses that are identical. Indeed, they are so similar that when a building company advertises a new housing estate, it often invites people to its “show home”. This is just one of the houses, but by looking around it, people can get an impression of any house on the estate.

1. But if, later, you walk down the streets of a new estate you will see that every house will seem different. The residents will have made sure of that! In an attempt to achieve extra individuality, some people even give their house a name. In suburbs of towns, there is a constant battle going on between the individualistic desires of the residents the sameness in a densely popu lated area. This contest is illustrated by the fact that anybody who wants to build an extension to their house, or even a garden shed, must (if it is over a certain size) first get “planning permission” from the local authorities.

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9. CHAPTER 6

1. INTERIORS: THE IMPORTANCE OF COSINESS

1. British houses have a reputation for being the coldest in Europe. Moreover many people from other countries think the British people are keen on “fresh air”. This reputation is exaggerated. It is partly the result of the fact that houses in Britain are, on average, older than they are in other countries. In fact, about three-quarters now have central heating. However, there is a grain of truth in it. Windows, for example, are designed so that they can be easily opened to a great variety of degrees — instead of, as in many other countries, either being completely shut or fully open. This way, air can be let into the house in winter without freezing its residents.
2. Just as the British idea of home is a mental concept as much as a physical reality, so is their idea of domestic comfort. The important thing is to feel cosy - that is, to create an atmosphere which seems warm even if it isn't really warm. This desire   usually has priority over aesthetic concerns. That is why the British also have a reputation for bad taste. Most people would rather buy several items of cheap, mass-produced furniture, with chairs and sofas covered in synthetic material, than one more beautiful and more physically comfortable item. The same is true with regard to ornaments  you want to be cosy, you have to fill the room up.
3. For many, tradition is part of cosiness, and they surround themselves old items  of furniture. And if you cannot have old furniture, you can always have other old things. The open fire is an example. In Britain, it is desirable to have a “real fire”. It is the perfect traditional symbol of warmth because it is what most people used in the past to keep warm. The attraction of a “real fire” is so strong that many houses have an imitation open fire, complete with plastic coal which shines red when it is switched on. Bad taste? So what!
4. Most old houses, even very small ones, have not one but two living rooms (which estate agents call “reception rooms”). It allows to keep the front room for comparatively formal visits, while family members and close friends can spend their time, hidden from public view, in the back room. Most modern smaller houses are built with just one living room (and in some older houses the two reception rooms have been converted into one). However, privacy must be preserved so these houses normally have a “hall” into which the front door opens. The front door usually does not open straight into the living room. Some houses also have a small “porch”, with its own door, through which people pass before getting to the hall — an extra line of defence!

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1. Rooms: uses and names

1. It is difficult to generalize about how British people use the various rooms in their houses. They may like the idea of tradition, but they are too individualistic to follow the same traditional habits. The only safe gen eralization is that, in a house with two floors, the rooms upstairs are the ones used as bedrooms. The toilet (often separate) and bathroom are also usually upstairs. The living room(s) and kitchen are downstairs. The latter is usually small, but those who can afford the space often like to have a “farmhouse kitchen”, big enough for the family to eat in.

1. Class divisions are sometimes involved in the names used for rooms. With living rooms, for example, the terms “sitting room” and “drawing room” are regarded as upper-middle class, while “lounge” is regarded as lower class. “Front room” and “back room” are also sometimes looked down on.

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23. CHAPTER 7
24. OWNING AND RENTING

1. Most British people do not “belong” to a particular  place. Perhaps, this is why they are not usually content to rent their accommodation. Wherever they are, they like to put down roots.
2. The desire to own the place where you live is almost universal in Britain. However, house prices are high. This dilemma is overcome by the mortgage system, which is probably a more common aspect of everyday life than it is anywhere else in the world. About 70% of all the houses in the country are occupied by their owners and almost all of these were bought with a mortgage. At any one time, half of these are owned by people who have borrowed 80% (or even more) of their price and are now paying this money back month by month. Usually the borrower pays back the money over a period of twenty to twenty-five years.
3. People are happy to take out mortgages because house prices increase faster than the general cost of living. So, most people can make a profit when they sell their house. So strong is this expectation that phrases such as “first-time buyer” and “second-time buyer” are well-known. The first-time buyers can only afford one of the cheaper houses available. But around ten years later, when some of their mortgage has been paid off, they can become the second-time buyers. They sell their houses at a profit and move into a more expensive house.
4. Although nearly everybody wants to own their house, it was only at the end of the twentieth century that a majority of people began to do so. Before that time, most working-class people lived in rented accommodation. At one time, most of them rented from private landlords. In the 1950s and 1960s, however, millions of homes were built by local govern ment authorities. By 1977, two-thirds of all residents lived in these “council houses” (or, in some cases, flats). Each local council keeps a waiting list of families who want to move into a council property. The order of preference is worked out by a complicated set of priorities. Once they are given a council house, residents have security; that is, they do not have to move out even if they become rich.

1. From 1950 to 1980 the proportion of “owner-occupiers” gradually increased. With both owner-occupiers and council residents increasing in numbers, the percentage of people who rented from private landlords became one of the lowest in the world — and continues to be so.

1. Then during the 1980s, the number of owner-occupiers increased more sharply. A major part of the philosophy of Thatcherism (under Prime Minister Margaret

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1. Thatcher) was the idea of the “property-owning democracy”. Council residents were allowed to buy their council houses.

1. Finding somewhere to live

1. If you want to buy a house, it is very rare to deal directly with the person selling. Instead, you go to an estate agent. These companies exist only to act as “go-betweens” for people buying and selling houses. They help with the various procedures — and take a fat com mission! If you are interested in one of the houses “on their books”, they will arrange a “viewing”. You can also spot houses for sale by the “For sale” signs.

1. If you want to rent somewhere from a private owner (not a council), the usual place to look is in the local news paper. Estate agents do not often deal with places for rent, although there are special lettings agencies.

1. Another possible way of finding somewhere to live is to “squat”. Squat ters are people who occupy empty houses without paying rent. If you do not cause any damage when moving into an empty house, you have not broken the law. If the owner wants to get you out, he or she has to get an order from the court to evict you.

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17. CHAPTER 8
18. HOMELESSNESS

1. In  1993  there were half a million homeless people in Britain - that's one of the highest proportions of the popu lation in all the countries of Europe. The supply of council housing is limited, and has decreased since the 1980s because of the sale of council houses and the lack of money available for building new ones. In addition, many council houses and flats were badly built and are now uninhabitable.
2. There are large numbers of people who can't afford to rent somewhere to live pri vately, who can not get council accommodation (and who would probably be at the end of a long waiting list), and who certainly can't afford to buy a house or flat. Finally, as elsewhere in Western Europe, the average size of families has become smaller, so that, although the population is increasing only very slowly, more places to live are still needed.
3. In the early 1990s many people who previously thought that they were secure   in their own homes suddenly faced the prospect of homelessness. They had taken out large mortgages to buy their homes at a time when the country was going through an economic boom and house prices were rising (and looked as if they would continue to rise). Many of these people lost their jobs and so could no longer afford the monthly mortgage payments. To make matters worse, the prize of houses, unusually, fell sharply at this time. People had to sell their homes, often for less than they bought them, and so were in debt as well as homeless.
4. Most homeless families are provided with temporary accommoda tion in boarding houses (small privately run guest houses or 'bed and breakfasts') by their local council. It is the duty of local authorities to house homeless families. Some families, or single people, find even more temporary shelter in hostels for the homeless which are run by charitable organizations. Thousands of single people simply live on the streets, where they “sleep rough”. The phrase “cardboard city” became well-known in the 1980s to describe areas of big cities, particularly London, where large numbers of homeless people camped out, protected from the weather only by cardboard boxes.
5. Solving the problem of homelessness is not a political priority for the British government, partly because the level of public awareness of the situation is low.

1. In many cases, the homeless are those with personal prob lems which make it difficult for them to settle down. In some cases, they are people who simply don't want to “settle down” and who wouldn't class themselves as homeless. There are, for example, 

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1. several thousand 'travellers' in the country, both traditional gypsies who have led a nomadic life for generations.

1. Recently have appeared young people of new lifestyle (often known as “New Age Travellers”) Their homes are the vehicles  in which they move from place to place, and they are often persecuted by unsympathetic authorities. For these people, the problem is not that they are “homeless” but in the official attitude towards their way of life.

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27. CHAPTER 9

1. SHOULD A GENTLEMAN BUILD HIS HOUSE UPON A ROCK OR UPON THE SAND?

1. The attitude of the British people to such notions as “home” and “house” is reflected in the language. The British seem to have had a lot of associations with these notions when they think or speak about quite different things like human’s nature, a person’s temper, behavior, frame of mind habits, people’s relationships and what not. It seems interesting to investigate such language phenomenon as proverbs and phraseological units referring to “home” and “house” or containing these words but expressing ideas far from “home” or “house”.
2. Firstly, it should be mentioned that some linguists consider proverbs as part or sort of phraseological units. But at closer examination one can see a certain difference between proverbs and phraseological units. Proverbs, if viewed in their structural aspect, are sentences, and so cannot be used in the same way as phraseological units. Proverbs could be best compared with mini-fables because they sum up the collective experience of the community. They moralize, give advice, give warning, admonish, criticize. No phraseological unit ever does any of these things. The function of proverbs in speech is communicative, they impart certain information.

1. 1. East or West — home is best.
2. Восток ли, запад ли, а дома лучше всего. Ср. В гостях хорошо, а дома лучше. Свой уголок хоть боком пролезть — всё лучше.
3. 2. Charity begins at home.
4. Милосердие (благотворительность) начинается у себя дома. Ср. Своя рубашка ближе к телу.
5. 3. Burn not your house to rid it of the mouse.
6. He сжигай своего, дома, чтобы избавиться от мышей. Ср. Осердясь на блох, да и шубу в печь.
7. 4. By the street of 'by-and-bye' one arrives at the house of 'Never'.
8.  По улице “Вот-вот” попадешь в дом “Никогда”. Смысл: мешканьем ничего не добьешься.
9. 5. Every dog is a lion at home.
10. Дома каждый пес чувствует себя львом. Ср. Всяк кулик в своем болоте велик. В своей семье всяк сам большой.
11. 6. Men make houses, women make homes
12.  (букв.: “мужчина строит дом, женщина его создает”
13. 7. My house is my castle.

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1. Мой дом — моя крепость (Никто не имеет права вмешиваться в мою домашнюю жизнь). Ср. В свеем доме как хочу, так и ворочу.
2. 8. Name not a rope in his house that was hanged.
3. Ср. В доме повешенного о веревке не говорят.
4. 9. The furthest way about is the nearest way home.
5.  Самая длинная окольная дорога — ближайший путь домой. Ср. Тише едешь— дальше будешь.
6. 9. There is по place like home.
7.  Свой дом —самое лучшее место. Ср. В гостях хорошо, а дома лучше. Хоть по уши плыть, а дома быть.
8. 10. То go for wool and come home shorn.
9. Пойти за шерстью, а вернуться стриженым. (Т. е. ничего не приобрести, а свое потерять).
10. 11. Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
11. Живущим в стеклянном доме камнями бросаться не следует. Ср. Не указывай на чужой двор пальцем, а то укажут на твой вилами. Других не суди, на себя погляди.
12. 12. Wash your dirty linen at home.
13.  Стирай свое грязное белье дома. Ср. Не выноси сора из избы.

1. Phraseological units, or idioms as they are called by most western scholars, represent what can be probably described as the most picturesque, colorful and expressive part of the language’s vocabulary.  Phraseology is a kind of picture gallery in which are colleted vivid and amusing sketches of the nation’s customs, traditions and prejudices, recollections of its past history, fragments of folk songs and fairy-tales. Phraseology is probably the most democratic area of vocabulary. One can find grotesque images, figures and personalities in this picture gallery. You can see a person feeling at home while being out, nails that have gone home, people who wish to be home and dry, students at home of lost causes or someone’s last home.
2. Word-groups known as phraseological units or idioms are characterized by a double sense: the current meanings of consistent words built up a certain picture, but the actual meaning of the whole unit has little or nothing to do with that picture in itself. It creates an absolutely new image.  
3. The ambiguousness of these interesting word-groups may lead to an amusing misunderstanding, especially for children who are apt to accept words at their face value.
4. Little Johnnie (crying): Mummy, mummy, my auntie Jane is dead.
5. Mother: Nonsense, child! She phoned me exactly five minutes ago.
6. Johnnie: But I heard Mrs. Brown say that her neighbours cut her dead.

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1. To cut somebody dead means to rudely ignore somebody, to pretend not to know or recognize him/her.

1. Praseological units produce a new meaning.
2. 1. at home
3. прием (гостей), званый вечер
4. As he dressed for dinner his eye fell on a card announcing the “at home” of one of his own cousins. ( J Galworthy, ‘The Island Pharisees’)
5. Переодеваясь к обеду, он заметил приглашение на журфикс к одному из своих кузенов.
6.   She had him to lunch to meet the right people; she gave at Homes where he recited his poems… (W. S. Maugham, ‘Cakes and ale’)
7. Она пригласила его на обед, где поэт мог бы встретиться с нужными ему людьми. Она устраивала приемы, на которых он читал свои стихи…
8. 2. at home (make oneself at home , make smb. feel at home)
9. как дома
10. She has a way of making everyone feel at home. (RHD)
11. С ней все чувствовали себя легко и просто.
12. 3. be (feel) at home
13. чувствовать себя как дома, вести себя непринужденно; быть в своей стихии, быть хорошо знакомым с предметом, свободно владеть чем-то; как раба в воде
14. I was more at home on a horse’s back than a ship’s deck. (R. L. Stevenson, ‘The Master of Ballantrae’)
15. Ездить верхом было для меня более привычным занятием, чем находиться на палубе корабля.
16. Swimming was his only accomplishment; he felt at home in the water… (W. S. Maugham, ‘Of Human Bondage’)
17. Плавание - это единственный вид спорта, в котором Филипп отличался; море казалось ему родной стихией.
18. He is not at home with the art of spelling.
19. Он был не в ладах с орфографией.
20. 4. be at home with smb.
21. чувствовать себя непринужденно с кем-л.; быть на дружеской ноге с кем-л.
22. She was at home with everybody in the place - peddlers, punters, tumblers, students, and all.  ( W. Thackeray, ‘Vanity Fair’)
23. Она была на дружеской ноге со всеми постояльцами - с торговцами, картежниками, акробатами, студентами - со всеми.

1. 18

1. 5. be at home to smb.
2. быть дома для кого-л., быть готовым принять кого-л.
3. 6. close to home
4. задеть чьи-л. чувства, интересы; задеть за живое
5. When John made fun of Bob’s way of walking, he stuck close to home. (DAI)
6. Джон любил посмеяться над походкой Боба, чем очень обижал его.
7. 7. come (get, go, hit, strike) home
8. попасть в цель (об ударе)
9. He lounged forward, but his blow did not get home. (E. Wallace, ‘Captains of Souls)
10. Он рванулся вперед, хотел ударить, но промахнулся.
11. 8. come (get, go, hit, strike) home to smb.
12. попасть в цель, в точку, не в бровь, а в глаз; задеть за живое, больно задеть кого-л.; найти отклик в (чьей-л.) душе; растрогать кого-л.
13. …it is a pathetic sight when a score of rough Irish… get to this song; and it strikes home to them (R. L. Stevenson, ‘The Master of Ballantrae’)
14. …это было трогательное зрелище, когда группа грубых ирландцев… запела эту песню; по их слезам было видно, что песня берет их за душу.
15. 9. come home to smb.
16. доходить до (чьего-л.) сознания, производить впечатление на кого-л.; осознать
17. For the fist time it came home sharply to Aileen how much his affairs meant to him. (Th. Dreiser, ‘The Financier’)
18. Эйлин впервые с такой отчетливостью осознала, как много значили для Каупервуда его дела.
19. 10. drive home
20. (суметь) доказать, убедить, втолковать, довести до сознания; вбить в голову
21. How Tom strode about that stage! How he hammered home the points of his policy! (H. Politt, ‘Serving My Time’)
22. Как энергично Том расхаживал по сцене! С какой уверенностью он доводил до сознания слушателей основные положения своей концепции!
23. 11. drive home (press home)
24. доводить до конца, успешно завершать
25. I believe Arnold’s plan in England should be pressed home… (R. E. Sherwood, ‘Roosevelt and Hopkins’)
26. Я полагаю, что план Арнольда в Англии должен быть доведен до конца…

1. 19

1. 12. East or West, home is best (home is home, though it be never so homely; there is no place like home) пословица
2. в гостях хорошо, а дома лучше
3. …I thought what a bully time I’d had spent in Scotland but all the same I was glad to be going home because East or West, home is best (C. Mackenzie, ‘ Hunting the Fairies’)
4. …я думала о том, как хорошо я провела время в Шотландии, но сие же была рада, что еду домой. В гостях хорошо, а дома лучше.
5. 13. home and dry
6. в безопасности
7. ‘I don’t want to sound too confident’ he told us, ‘we cannot afford to assure we are home and dry until the votes have been counted at the annual meeting. (‘The Times, Febr. 17, 1970.)
8. Не хочу радоваться раньше времени, - сказал он нам. - Мы будем уверены в своей победе, победе, только кода подсчитают голоса на ежегодном собрании.
9. 14. a home from home
10. домашняя обстановка, атмосфера; второй дом
11. The British man is a clubbing animal and doesn’t mind paying handsomely his ‘home from home’. (OED)
12. Британец - клубное животное, он согласен платить немалые деньги за домашний уют вдали от семейного очага.
13. 15. home of lost causes
14. «пристанище несбывшихся амбиций» (прозвище Оксфордского университета)
15. 16. make oneself at home
16. чувствовать себя как дома
17. Nina. …Sit down, all of you! Make yourself at homes! (E. O’Neil, ‘Strange Interlude’)
18. Нина. …Садитесь, пожалуйста! Будьте как дома!
19. 17. one’s last home (long, narrow home)
20. могила
21. A fever, which, in a few days, brought Sir Everhard to his long home… (T. Smollett, ‘Sir Launcelot Geat)
22. Лихорадка за несколько дней свела сэра Эверхарда в могилу…
23. 18. a bawdy (disorderly) house (house of disrepute, of all fame, of ill repute)
24. дом терпимости, публичный дом
25. Grace Louisa Smedley, 42, was given a maximum sentence of six months hard labour…, for keeping a disorderly house. (D. Cusack and F. James, ‘Come in Sprinner’)

1. 20

1. Грейс Луиза Смедли, 42 года, была приговорена к максимальному наказанию - шести месяцам каторжных работ… за содержание дома терпимости.
2. 19. bow down in the house of Rimmon
3. Поступать вопреки своим принципам; поступаться своими убеждениями, принести свои убеждения в жертву необходимости
4. Avoiding… this false start our writer decides to launch off straight into the literary world. He will probably enter it full of high resolves not to bow down in the house of Rimmon. (C. D. Lewis, ‘Revolution in Writing’)
5. Наш писатель решил вступить в мир литературы, не прибегая ни к каким обманным уловкам. Он, по всей вероятности, одушевлен благородным стремлением не поступаться своими принципами.  
6. 20. bring down the house (bring the house down)
7. покорить весь зал, вызвать бурные аплодисменты, гром аплодисментов
8. I remember the scene well. It used to bring down the house. I’ve never heard such applause in my life. (W. S. Maugham, ‘ Theatre’)
9. Я хорошо помню эту сцену. Она всегда вызывала гром аплодисментов. Подобных аплодисментов мне никогда не приходилось раньше слышать.
10. 21. build one’s house upon a rock
11. строить свой дом на скале; создавать что-л. на прочном фундаменте
12. …he found a divided and sullen country, torn by factional quarrels. Monarchists more interested in recovering property lost in the recent revolutions than in building his house upon a rock… (Ch. Beard and V. Beard, ‘The rise of American Civilization)
13. Он нашел страну озлобленной, раздираемой фракционными ссорами. Монархистов больше интересовало возвращение собственности, утраченной в недавних революциях, чем создание государства на прочной основе…
14. 22. build one’s house upon the sand
15. строить дом на песке; создавать основывать что-л., не имея прочного фундамента
16. It did not require prophetic gifts to foresee that the fall of the City would be followed by the destruction of the temple. In identifying the maintenance of public morality with the spasmodic activities of an incompetent Government, the church had built its house upon the sand. (R. H. Tawney, ‘Religion and the Rise of Capitalism)
17. Не нужно быть пророком, чтобы предсказать, что гибель общественных устоев повлекла за собой разрушение храма. Вверяя защиту нравов малокомпетентному правительству, не способному на разумные действия, церковь строит свое здание на песке.
18. 23. burn one’s house to get rid of mice

1. 21

1. сжечь свой дом, чтобы избавиться от мышей; пожертвовать многим для того, чтобы избавиться от незначительных неприятностей
2. 24. clean house
3. избавиться от нежелательных элементов
4. The Union finally decided it was time to clean the house (RHD)
5. Руководство союза наконец решило избавиться от всех нежелательных элементов…
6. 25. a condemned house
7. дом, предназначенный на снос
8. In 1912, when I was seven, we got a house of our own. It was in a court of condemned houses, and it had four rooms and only one door - the street door. (J. Walsh, ‘Not Like This)
9. В 1912 году, когда мне было семь лет, мы поселились в отдельном домике из четырех комнат с одной единственной дверью, которая вела нас во двор. Все дома в тупичке вокруг нас доживали свои последние дни.
10. 26. eat smb. out of house and home
11. разорить кого-л.
12. Hastess. …I am a poor widow of East-cheap, and he is arrested at my suit.
13. Chief Justice. For which sum?
14. Hostess. It is more than for some, my lord; it is for all, all I have. He hath eaten me out of house and home: he hath put all my substance into that fat bell of his… (W. Shakespeare, ‘King Henry IV)
15. Хозяйка. … я бедная вдова из Ист-чипа, и он арестован по моей жалобе.
16. Верховный судья. Какую сумму он вам должен?
17. Хозяйка. Какую там суму, милорд? Да я сама из-за него скоро с сумой по миру пойду. Он все сожрал у меня, не оставил ни кола ни двора; все мое состояние упрятал в свое толстое брюхо…
18. 27. God’s (Lord’s) house (the house of God)
19. дом господний; храм господень; церковь
20. 28. go (all) round the house
21. Ходить вокруг да около
22. You mean your little story… wasn’t true? You went a hell of a way round the house about this? (Suppl)
23. Не хочешь ли ты сказать, что твоя история… не совсем соответствует действительности? Говори прямо, чего там ходить вокруг да около.
24. 29. a half-way house
25. компромисс

1. 22

1. You can be the one thing or the other, but I will be no party to half-way houses. (R. L. Stevenson, ‘The Vaster of Ballantrae’)
2. Вы можете поступать как угодно, но я не сторонник  компромиссных решений.
3. 30. a house divided against itself
4. раздор между своими; междоусобица
5. What ignorance of the French temper it showed when the Germans thought that in France they were fighting a house divided against itself. (W. S. Maugham, ‘France at War’)
6. Какое непонимание французского характера обнаружили немцы, когда думали, что ведут войну против страны, ослабленной внутренними распрями.
7. 31. a house of cards
8. карточный домик
9. All his plans for the future were like a house of cards and he scattered them with angry impatience. (W. S. Maugham, ‘Complete Short Stories, ‘The Pool’)
10. Все его планы на будущее рухнули, словно карточный домик, и он со злобным нетерпением отшвырнул их.
11. 32. the house that Jack built
12. «дом, который построил Джек», рассказ с многочисленными повторениями
13. 33. keep a good house
14. хорошо принимать гостей

1.                     He only lived in a small cottage but he certainly knows how to keep a good house. (SPI)
2.                     Домик у него крошечный, но зато он умеет хорошо принять гостей.

1. 34. keep house
2. хозяйничать; вести домашнее хозяйство    
3. She kept house well, was a good cook and punctual, but neither did nor said anything out of the ordinary. (W. Du Bois, ‘worlds of Color’)  
4. Она содержала дом в образцовом порядке, умела хорошо и вкусно готовить, но никогда в жизни она не высказывала ни одной яркой мысли и вообще не сделала ничего замечательного.
5. 35. keep one’s (the) house
6. сидеть дома; не выходить
7. 36. keep open house
8. держать двери дома открытыми (для гостей); жить на широкую ногу; устраивать приемы; славится гостеприимством
9. …Caroline Hand kept open house for Cowperwood, inviting whomsoever he wished to receive there. (Th. Drieser, ‘The Stoic)

1. 23

1. Керолайн устраивала у себя приемы и рассылала приглашения всем, кого Каупервуду нужно было повидать.

1. 37. like a house on fire (afire)
2. быстро и легко; энергично; с энтузиазмом
3. The place went along like a house afire for a while. But things are lookin’ bad again now. (K. S. Prichard, ‘Golden Miles’)
4. Такая тут была суматоха, словно на пожаре. А сейчас опять застой.
5. 38. make smb. free of one’s house
6. радушно принимать кого-л.,  представить свой дом в чье-л. распоряжение, сделать так, чтобы гости чувствовали себя как дома
7. 39. name not a rope in his house that hanged himself пословица
8. в доме повешенного не говорят о веревке
9. 40. on the house
10. за счет фирмы, фирма оплатит; за счет хозяина, бесплатно
11. She set a cup of coffee in front of him, and when he reached in his pocket, said, ‘That’s on the house, mister’. (A. Saxton, ‘ The Great Midland)
12. Она поставила перед ним чашку кофе и, когда он полез в карман, сказала: «за счет заведения, мистер».
13. 41. people who live in glass houses should not throw stones пословица
14. живущий в стеклянном доме не должен бросать в других камни, т.е. не следует осуждать других тому, кто сам не безупречен
15. Trench. Do you mean to say that I am just as bad as you are?.. Well, people who live in glass houses have no right to throw stones. But on my honour, I never knew that my house was a glass one until you pointed it out.. I beg your pardon. (D. Shaw, ‘Widowers’ Houses’)
16. Тренч. Вы хотите сказать, что я такой же негодяй, как вы? Да, кто сам живет в стеклянном  доме, тот не смеет бросать камнями в других. Но, честное слово, я не знал, что мой дом стеклянный, пока вы мне не показали. Прошу прощения.
17. 42. a public house
18. бар, паб, пивная, закусочная, трактир
19. The Vicar of Surle, a tiny hamlet by the sea, was to be seen every evening in the public house a stone’s throw from the vicarage… (W. S. Maugham, ‘Of Human Bondage’)
20. Священника из Сарля - маленького местечка у самого соря - можно было каждый вечер застать в трактире в двух шагах от дома…
21. 43. put one’s (own) house in order
22. «навести порядок в своем доме», устроить свои дела, привести свои дела в порядок

1. 24

1. Once Ireland’s free form England it’ll be easier to set the house in order. (I. Murdoch, ‘The Red and the Green’)
2. Когда Ирландия освободится от Англии, легче будет навести порядок в собственном доме.
3. 44. a rough house
4. шумная ссора, расправа, насилие,  беспорядок, шумная игра, возня
5. I told the children that I would allow them to play in the barn on condition that there would be no rough house. (HAI)
6. Я сказал детям, что разрешу играть в сарае, при условии, что они не устроят там кавардак.
7. 45. throw the house out of windows
8. перевернуть все вверх дном
9. They say things, and do things, and even think things, that you’d fear must throw the house out of the windows, and wreck the home for evermore. (E. Phillipot, ‘Widecombe Fair)
10. Они говорят, делают и даже думают такое, что, боюсь, их семейная жизнь развалится как карточный домик.
11. 46. treasure house
12. сокровищница
13. He always emphasized that the richest treasure house of language is to be found in the speech of the simple people… (R. Fox, ‘The Novel and the People)
14. Он всегда подчеркивал, что богатейшую сокровищницу языка можно найти в речи простого народа.
15. 47. turn smb. out of house and home
16. выгнать, выставить кого-л. из дома
17. ‘A friend of mine called Moyne…’ ‘Oh, him!’ Molly said. ‘We just turned him out of house and home…’ ‘Out of house and home?’ ‘House and home. He came to see the partners. He tried to blarney.’ (Gr. Greene, ‘Brighton Rock’)
18. - Мой друг Мойн…
19. - А, Мойн, - сказала Молли. - Мы только что выставили его из нашего дома…
20. - Выставили из дома?
21. - Выставили. Он пришел повидать своих компаньонов. Пытался взять их  лестью.

1. 25
2. CONCLUSION

1. I n this paper the main attention was paid to the attitudes of the British to their houses and homes. In the conclusion it should be said that almost everybody in Britain dreams of living in a detached house (not to mention the stately home which are accessible to the aristocracy). The second best is considered a semi-detached house, one house with two separate households. This type of dwelling is desirable for those who find detached houses too expensive. A large proportion of British people live in semi-detached houses.  A less desirable variant is a terraced house. The least desirable is a flat. Flats have no entrance to the outside world and this does not suit British tastes. Flats     are the cheapest kind of home. The people who live in them are those who cannot afford to live anywhere else. Britain has the second lowest (after Ireland) proportion of flat-dwellers in the European Union.
2. The image of home as a castle suggests a clear demarcation between private   property and the public domain. The British prefer private property. To emphasize this preference people like to have a front garden, a low hedge or a low fence as buffer zone between residents and the world.  
3. There is a certain difference between the words “house” and “homes” in English (unlike in Russian). The British have little attachment to their houses as an object. The British can easily change their houses when the time comes. Their new houses are turned into their new homes. The British use the word “home” to denote not only the place where they live, but the place they consider dear because of personal feelings or relationships, the place of security and comfort.
4. Individual self-expression (as for their houses) is very important. When houses are built by organizations they are of the same design. But the residents try to make their

1. house seem different and to achieve extra individuality people even give their house a name.

1. The British keep their traditions concerning interiors. They have a very special   idea of interiors and the main one is the importance of cosiness.    

1. The English language is rich in proverbs, sayings and phraseological units which make the language colouful and expressive. They can’t be understood literally because they have a figurative meaning. There are a lot of proverbs, sayings and phraseological units containing words “home” and “house”. A close examinations shows that such phraseological

1. unites display such things as human’s nature, temper, behavior, frame of mind habits, people’s relationships. It has been interesting and useful to investigate such language phenomenon as

1. 26

1. proverbs and phraseological units referring to “home” and “house” or containing these words but expressing ideas far from “home” or “house”.

28. 27
29. BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. 1. Somerset Maugham. The Escape. Reader for Advanced Students. Издательство литературы на иностранных языках. Москва 1961.
2. 2. James O’Drisoll. Britain. Oxford University Press. 2003.
3. 3. V. N. Bogoroditskaya, L. V. Khrustalyova. The World of Britain. Москва «Издательство «Версия». 2000.
4. 4. David McDowall. Britain in Close-up. Logman. 2003.

1.                     5.http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=91736&dict=CALD

1. 6. 500 английских пословиц и поговорок. Обработка И. С. Гварджаладзе и др. Издательство литературы на иностранных языках, 2004
2. 7.  А. В. Кунин. Фразеологический словарь, Москва, 1999

1. When I read “The Escape” (побег) by Somerset Maugham I was impressed by the witty (остроумный) way the main character had found out of a piquant [‘pikэnt] situation.
2. “His name was Roger Charing. He was no longer young when he fell in love with Ruth Barlow…

1. Then, on a sudden ( вдруг), he fell out of love…
2. They had made up their minds (решили)that they would be married as soon as they found a house that suited (подходит) them, for he lived in chambers (на квартире) and she in furnished rooms…It was very hard to find anything that was quite satisfactory (удовлетворительно)… Roger always found a fault (недостаток) that made the house unsuitable. They looked at hundred of houses…”
3. As a result “Ruth was exhausted (была измучена)… For two years they looked at houses.”
4. In the end of the story Roger got a letter from Ruth. She said that she had found someone who wanted to marry her.
5. The story by Somerset Maugham gave me the idea of investigating (узнать) whether the British pay so much attention (уделяют такое же внимание) to housing till now and what kind of houses are popular with the British.

1. Almost everybody in Britain dreams of living in a detached house; that is, a house which is a separate building. It illustrates the desire for privacy (уединенность) which seems to be at the heart of the British attitude (отношение) to housing.  
2. A large detached house not only ensures (обеспечивает) privacy. It is also a status [‘steitэs] symbol. The highest dream of the British is an aristocratic “stately home”(роскошный) with a garden. But such a house is an unrealistic dream for most people. But even a small detached house, surrounded (окруженный) by a garden, would be dear (был бы дорог) to the hearts of many British people. Most people do not like living in blocks of flats. They think flats do not give enough privacy. Flats are the cheapest kind of home.
3. The dislike of living in flats is very strong. In the 1950s millions of poorer people lived in old, cold, uncomfortable houses, often with only an outside toilet and no bathroom. During the next twenty years many new “high rise” blocks of flats with central heating and bathrooms were built. They were much more comfortable. But people hated their new homes. They said they couldn't keep a watchful eye (присматривать за детьми) on their children playing down there in the green spaces. The new high-rise blocks were quickly destroyed. The lifts broke down. The lights in the corridors didn't work. Windows got broken and were not repaired. There was graffiti all over the walls.
4.  In other countries millions of people live in flats. But in Britain they do not suit British attitudes (отношение). No more high-rises are being built. At the present time, only 4% of the population lives in high-rise blocks of flats. Only 20% of the country's families live in flats of any kind.

1. The idea of a home as a castle suggests (предполагает) a clear demarcation (линия разделения) between private property (собственность) and the public property. Flats, on the other hand, suggest uncertainties (неопределенность). People who live in flats have a lot of questions: “Who do you share the corridor outside your flat with (with the residents on the same floor or with all residents of the block)? Is the foyer   downstairs for the people who live in the block or for the public in general? These uncertainties perhaps explain (объяснять) why the flats are not popular in Britain.
2. People see a clear separation (разница) between what is public and what is private. For example, people have no right to reserve (занимать) the road outside their house for their own cars. On the other hand, they seldom keep the bit of pavement (кусочек тротуара) outside their house clean and tidy. That is not their job. It is outside their territory.

1.                  People prefer to live in houses built a little back from the road. This way, they can have a front garden or a yard as a kind of buffer zone between them and the world. These areas allow people to have low fences (забор), or hedges (живая изгородь) around them. These barriers have psychological force. They announce (объявить) to the world where the private property begins.

1. The most desirable (желанный) home is a detached (отдельно стоящий) house.
2.  It is the most expensive type of home. Such houses have privacy from neighbours.
3. One of the builder’s advertisements says:

6. the “traditional” building materials of brick (the walls) and slate (шифер) (the roof);
7. the irregular, “non-classical”, shape, with all those little corners, making
   the house feel 'cosy' ;
8. the suggestion of a large front garden,  giving greater privacy;
9.  the garage (on the left) is hidden away, so that it doesn't spoil the rural feeling;
10. the front door is not even in the picture (the privacy standard at work again).

 Second best is a semi-detached (два дома, имеющие общую стену) house. A very large proportion of people live in them. It is one building with separate household (жилыми помещениями). Each house is the mirror of other, inside and out.  There are separate front gardens for each house. At the sides, there is an access (проход) to the back, where there will also be two gardens. The typical semi-detached has two floors and three bedrooms.

Less desirable is a terraced house.

This kind of house has a way to the back only through the house itself. Each house in the row (ряд) is joined to the next one. They usually have two floors, with two bedrooms upstairs. Some have gardens back or front, others have no garden at all. Before the 1960s, Britain had millions of terraced houses, most with no inside toilet or bathroom. Many of these were then knocked down, but in some places the houses have become quite desirable – after repairs.

An exception (исключение) is the town house.

These houses can be found in the inner of most cities. There is a great variety regarding (касательно) both design and use. They often have three or more floors, including a basement (подвал) or semi-basement. Although they are usually terraced, those are well- preserved and in a “good” area may be highly desirable. (желанный)  

The stately (роскошный) home is highly desirable but mostly among the aristocracy. Many of these families own fine old country houses in which they have lived for hundreds of years. They have a very great emotional investment in their houses.  

So, in order to stay in their houses, many aristocrats live lives which are less  comfortable (they may not, for example, have central heating). Many have also turned their houses and land into tourist attractions.

The British people feel little attachment (привязанность) to their house as an object. It is the abstract idea of “home” which is important, not the building. The house will be sold when the time and price is right and its the people will move into some other house which they will then turn into “home” - a home which they will love.

The houses themselves are just investments.(вложение денег) An illustration of this is that two-thirds of all inherited (унаследованные) houses are very often sold by the people who inherit (наследовать) them.

This attitude is so dominant that it leads to a strange attitude to house prices. When the prices fall, people think it is a “bad thing”. You may think that it is a good thing, because people can then find somewhere to live more cheaply. We think that   rising prices are bad. But with houses in Britain it is the other way around. Falling prices mean that most people cannot afford to sell their house. They have borrowed a lot of money to buy it (sometimes more than its present price). To most British people, such immobility (недвижимость) is a terrible misfortune. (неудача)

People like to choose the colour of their front door and  what they are going to do with a little bit of outside territory.

However, not everything about housing in Britain shows indi viduality because most houses are built by organizations, not individuals. For reasons of economy, all the houses on in estate (жилой массив) are usually built to the same design.

But if you walk down the streets of a new estate you will see that every house l seems different. In an attempt (попытка) to achieve (добиться) extra individuality, some people even give their house a name. There is a constant (постоянный) battle going on between the individualistic desires of the residents and the sameness (похожесть) in a  popu lated area. This contest (борьба) is illustrated by the fact that anybody who wants to build an extension (пристройка) to their house, or even a garden shed (сарай), must first get “planning permission”(разрешение) from the local authorities. (власти)

Now let me tell you a few words about the importance of cosiness.

British houses have a reputation for being the coldest in Europe. This reputation is exaggerated. In fact, about three-quarters have central heating. However, there is a grain (крупица) of truth in it. Windows, for example, are designed so that they can be easily opened to a great variety of degrees. This way, air can be let into the house in winter without freezing its residents.

The British have a special idea of domestic comfort. The important thing is to feel cosy - that is, to create an atmosphere which seems warm even if it isn't really warm. That is why the British also have a reputation for bad taste.

For many, tradition is part of cosiness, and they surround themselves with old items   of furniture. And if you cannot have old furniture, you can always have other old things. The open fire is an example. In Britain, it is desirable to have a “real fire”. It is the perfect traditional symbol of warmth. The attraction of a “real fire” is so strong that many houses have an imitation open fire, complete (заполненный) with plastic coal which shines red when it is switched on.

Most old houses  have two living rooms. It allows to keep the front room for  formal visits, while family members and close friends can spend their time, hidden from public view, in the back room. Most modern houses are built with just one living room. However, privacy must be preserved (оберегаться) so these houses have a “hall” into which the front door opens. Some houses also have a small “porch”, with its own door as an extra line of defence!

Owning or renting is a very important question for the British.

The desire to own the place where you live is almost universal in Britain. However, house prices are high. This dilemma is overcome by the mortgage [‘mo:gidз] system. (ипотечная система)

 About 70% of all the houses in the country are occupied by their owners and almost all of these were bought with a mortgage. Half of these houses are owned by people who have borrowed 80% of their price and are now paying this money back month by month. Usually the borrower pays back the money over a period of twenty to twenty-five years.

                                 In the 1950s and 1960s millions of homes were built by local govern ment                                                                                               . authorities. By 1977, two-thirds of all residents lived in these “council houses” or flats.

              Then during the 1980s, the number of owner-occupiers (собственники) increased (возросло). A major part of the philosophy of Thatcherism (under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher) was the idea of the “property-owning democracy”. Council residents were allowed to buy their council houses.

There are homeless people in Britain. In 1993  there were half a million homeless people in Britain - that's one of the highest proportions of the popu lation in all the countries of Europe. The supply (ресурсы) of council housing is limited. In addition, many council houses and flats were badly built and are now uninhabitable. (нежилые)

In the early 1990s many people suddenly faced the prospect (перспектива) of homelessness. They had taken out large mortgages to buy their homes at a time when the country was going through an economic boom. Many of these people lost their jobs and so could no longer afford the monthly mortgage payments. To make matters worse, the prize of houses, unusually, fell sharply at this time. People had to sell their homes, often for less than they bought them, and so were in debt as well as homeless.

Some families or single people find shelter in hostels for the homeless which are run by charitable organizations. Thousands of single people simply live on the streets. The phrase “cardboard city” became well-known in the 1980s to describe areas of big cities where large numbers of homeless people camped out, protected from the weather only by cardboard boxes.

Recently have appeared young people of new lifestyle (often known as “New Age Travellers”) Their homes are the buses  in which they move from place to place.

Thank you for attention.

Could you characterize in short housing situation in Russia?

As far as I can judge most Russian people in towns and cities live in flats.    

Before 1960s most people lived in old houses where rooms were occupied de different families with a common kitchen, often without a bathroom. In 1960 new five-storied blocks of flats appeared. Families began to get their own flats. Though, they were not owners. They  rented the flats from the state.  Later, in 1970s new high rise blocks of flats gas and central heating were built. But it’s common knowledge people don’t care for corridors in their blocks. The lifts often break down. The lights in the corridors don’t work. The windows get broken and are not repaired. There are graffiti all over the walls.

In small towns and villages people live in their own houses, but most of then have no modern conveniences.

Rather few people can afford a modern detached house, though, they are becoming more in number nowadays.  

I think the Russian would like to live in their own houses. But in Russia there few people who can use a mortgage system because the interest which they will have to pay back is too high. To tell the truth people are now allowed to privatize the flats where they live. But still housing situation leaves much to be desired.