Maisonette or Flat

[Halfpint77]

Can somebody tell me what they mean by a purpose built maisonette?

[pastafreak]

Ah...so the Estate agent is wrong then?
Funny-as that is the definition I was given when I was property hunting a few years ago....and it is used -here at least-to define both one and two story flats that have their own private access to the outside.
Maybe the definition varies according to what part of the country you are in....
So-yours is correct for where you live jack....and our estate agents definition is correct for where he is.
Most definitions I've seen state it can be a 2 story dwelling...*but not always*.

[pastafreak]

Eccles...if it has it's own private front door,then down here it would be defined as a maisonette.

[jackthehat]

You believed an Estate Agents description of a property..........?

How very trusting of you.

That Estate Agents and their ilk try to gussy-up the descriptions of the properties on their books isn't a surprise. However, presently, a maisonette is as I have described.

[EcclesCake]

Pasta, down 'here' when I bought, lived in and sold one it was called a flat.

[ladybirder]

Eccles I would say that was definitely a maisonette as it has it's own outside entrance. The OED describes a maisonette as "forming separate living accommodation, USUALLY on two floors and having a separate entrance". My mother lived in a 1st floor PB maisonette which had its own separate entrance, as did the four in her block. Her opened into a hallway and stairs up to the first floor where her accommodation was. She lived in the Midlands.

[pastafreak]

Eccles..then maybe-as I said above-the definition varies from one part of the country to another.

http://www.zoopla.co....&search_source=refine

[ladybirder]

Soz about the rogue apostrophe should be its.

[cazzz1975]

I used to live in what you described halfpint and it was known as a maisonette

[jackthehat]

I used to live in what I described..........and it was known as a Maisonette. :o)

[ladybirder]

Well can't they both be maisonettes? They both fit the OED description. At least I think they do.

[jackthehat]

http://www.communitie...cs/definitiongeneral/

See 'Type of Dwelling'.

[cazzz1975]

I also lived in a block where I was on the top floor and inside the property there was a second floor to the bedrooms, the property had its own front door but you had to then go down external stairs to get to the bottom of the block. the council regarded it as a flat.

very confusing!

[ladybirder]

Just looked through that Jack; thanks. It says "Flats include maisonettes; maisonettes are flats containing more than one storey." The OED says they don't have to contain more than one story which is muddling to say the least. However, my mother's did, as she entered on the ground floor into her own private hallway/reception area with the stairs going up to the first floor from there. Therefore her property included space on the ground floor and on the first floor. So honestly I think that covers both the OED's and the Building Regs' description of a maisonette.

[coccinelle]

And just to confuse matters though it's a french word the french would call a two storey flat a 'duplex'!!

[jackthehat]

http://en.wikipedia.o...Duplex_%28building%29

My word, it's getting more and more complicated.....:o)

[pastafreak]

Quite a common term in NYC.

[smart1]

You live in a purpose built maisonette, as do I.
Four self-contained properties in what essentially looks like a semi- detached property.

[jackthehat]

......or not.

See above :o)

[Ellipsis]

Question: what image or thought immediately comes to mind when you hear the expression "upstairs maisonette"?

Answer:
A) an upstairs self contained flat in building that looks like a house
B) the questioner doesn't mean an "upstairs maisonette", they mean an "upstairs self contained flat in a building that looks like a house".
C) I am completely clueless what the questioner might mean by an "upstairs maisonette" - there is no such thing and it's about as meaningful an expression as an "upstairs house"

[ladybirder]

It's the opposite of a "downstairs maisonette". Clear now? :-)