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Housing Types- Knowing The Terminology

Written by Administrator

Monday, 04 May 2009 09:55

While the single family home on a private lot continues to have strong appeal as "the home of our dreams", many other types of housing provide great benefits to prospective homebuyers - first-time, move-up and move-down buyers alike.

Whether you are concerned about affordability, want to reduce the maintenance requirements of a single-family home or desire to increase your discretionary income, Greater Ottawa home builders offers many alternatives to the single-family home, in a variety of designs and price ranges to suit your needs and pocketbook.

Knowing the terminology used to describe these alternatives can be helpful as you browse through builders' ads and talk with salespeople in model homes and sales offices. Here is a brief overview of ownership options and some of the more common housing types.

Ownership Options

Freehold—You own the home and the land that it sits on, with the accompanying privileges and responsibilities.

Condominium—You own the home. The land and/or common areas are the property and responsibility of the condominium corporation of which you become a partner when you buy the home.

Housing Types

Townhouse (or row house) -Single-family units, (three or more), that are lined up in a row and share common walls. Often each unit will have a backyard and a garage. Ownership can be freehold or condominium. Townhouses have become a popular housing form in Greater Ottawa in recent years, outselling all other forms of housing.

Stacked townhouse (or terrace homes or walk-ups)—Two townhouses that are "stacked" one on top of the other and joined in symmetrical, or asymmetrical, configurations to create an interesting streetscape and a greater sense of privacy.

Garden home—Rowhouses with condominium ownership, each unit having both a front and back entrance, and shared parking in the form of parking lots.

Carriage home—A semi-detached townhouse in which the two homes are joined by a garage or carport that provides access between the front and rear.

Maisonette—Similar to a stacked townhouse, but consists of four units (two on top of two others).

Manor blocks—A multi-unit building (four units is common) with the look of a sprawling English country home. Each unit has a separate entrance and garage, and the end units are usually bungalows.

Link homes—Carriage homes that are joined by the basement walls only. Above ground, each home looks like a single family dwelling on a narrow lot.

Grow home—Small townhouses that do not have any load-bearing interior walls—making partitions easy to install or remove as the home’s use changes.

Semi-detached house—One building on its own lot, consisting of two units that share one common wall and have separate entrances. Can be one-, two- or three stories. Most often associated with existing housing, new semi-detached houses are emerging in some regions of the country as an alternative to single-family dwellings.

Duplex—A two-unit dwelling, with one unit above the other, on its own lot. Often the owner lives in one unit and rents the other. Recent research and demonstration projects related to flexible housing design by the housing industry are creating renewed interest in this housing form.

When more than one person owns the home

Like the many types of homes available, there is more than one way to legally own a home. If you buy a home with another person or several other people, one of the following types of ownership may apply:

Joint tenancy-each owner holds an equal share in the property regardless of his or her individual financial contribution. An owner can assign his or her share to a non-owner while living or in a will thereby ending the joint tenancy. If an owner dies without any specific arrangements having been mad, his or her share is automatically transferred to the other owner(s). (Joint tenancy rules are not applicable in Quebec)

Tenancy in common or undivided ownership-Each owner holds a specific portion of the property but the portions do not have to be equal. Each individual owner can sell or assign his or her share to any other person, subject to any restrictions that were originally stated in the deed.

Co-ownership-Co-ownership occurs when the ownership of the whole property is divided between two or more individuals. Usually there is a written agreement between different co-owners in which the rights of each co-owner is described. Each co-owner may sell his or her right of ownership or dispose of it as he or she wishes.