Houses

The main difference between British houses and American houses is the building material. British houses are stone or brick. American houses are wood frame. This doesn't seem like a big thing until you have experienced both.

In an American house, you can rebuild and add on whenever you want. You can even just buy a lot and build your own house. The average American with enough ambition, time and money can build a house in a matter of months. Watch any episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition. American houses can be torn down and rebuilt very quickly.

In a British house, the house you buy is the house you will always have. You won't be able to expand or add onto it because your house will be butted right up against the house of one or more of your neighbors. On top of that, you can't build a wooden house. All construction has to be stone or brick, requiring the hiring of contractors and stone or brick masons. Laying brick takes a lot longer than building a wood frame. Waiting for the cement to dry is even more time. While American tv shows build entire houses in a week, the British would be impressed at a room addition completed in under a month.

Wood is cheaper than brick and stone, and land in the US is cheaper than land in the UK, so American houses are much bigger. The land that is home to a house and yard and driveway for one family in the US would probably be three or four houses crammed close together in the UK. Kitchens in the UK are small. Bedrooms are small. Closets are rare. It's almost impossible to find a house with more than one bathroom.

On top of all that, the British houses are cold. Stone and brick are really crap insulators. In the winter, the walls of your house act as a heat sink. In the summer, the walls become sun-baked radiators. Because of this, heating and cooling costs are higher.

There are probably some minor advantages of British houses. They are less flammable? No big yards to mow? That's about all I can come up with.