What is the difference between a flat and an apartment?

[heypaulie]

What is the difference between a flat and an apartment?

[Josyjo]

snobbery!

[flyciderman]

and the price

[olly8080]

a flats where unemployed live and an apartment is where ex unemployed live lol

[velvet lady]

apartment is just a posh word! a flat describes one level!! a maisonette is also a flat, but with its own front door and sometimes two floors

[fredpuli47]

Americans say 'apartment' when we would say 'flat'. .
It's misplaced snobbery and fashion in Britain to refer to a flat as an apartment. Truly rich or aristocratic British people still refer to their flat as a flat. Estate agents of class call them flats too, unless they are hoping to sell to Americans or other foreigners . Flat in American has a bad connotation and in other languages e.g French, the word apartment is readily understood (In French, for example, it is 'appartement')

[droopdrawers]

As someone living in an "appartment ",my understanding is a flat has a communal entrance leading to internal personal entrances.

An appartment has its own private outside entrance. Nothing posh or snobbery about it at all.

Same applies to a Penthouse Flat / Appartment.....it just means a flat on the top floor.

DD