Tenant house - meaning?

[Graver]

Is there anything like a "tenant house" in English? If yes, what meaning does it have? Does it have anything to do with a "tenement house" ???
Thank you!

[kattie]

I'm not a teacher :)

Yeah, tenant means someone who rents house

[thedeebo]

Not a teacher.

Maybe an apartment (American English)? An apartment is a building with many rooms that are rented out to renters (tenants) to live in. This is different from a hotel since apartments are meant to be lived in long-term and don't have housekeeping services.

The British call this a "flat."

[Anglika]

To me a "tenant house" would probably be a house in which all the rooms are let as bed-sitting rooms, with perhaps the bathroom and kitchen being used by all the tenants. It is a typical situation in university towns, where students rent a room in a house, sharing the utility costs amongst all the tenants.

[Graver]

But does it really have anything to do with a tenement house? They may be easily confused since they sound alike... According to the CALD a tenement is "a large building divided into apartments, usually in a poor area of a city" but what about a "tenant house"? Is it the same or (at least) similar?

Thank you !!!

[Anglika]

In one sense, yes, in that in Scotland a "tenament" was a house divided up into flats/apartments and usually indicating a property in a poor location and of poor quality. However, the flats were discrete one from another, in old tenements sharing water access and having a common staircase but having their own kitchen area.

A tenant house will merely indicate that all living/sleeping rooms are individually let. The house remains as one unit.

[kattie]

To me a "tenant house" would probably be a house in which all the rooms are let as bed-sitting rooms, with perhaps the bathroom and kitchen being used by all the tenants. It is a typical situation in university towns, where students rent a room in a house, sharing the utility costs amongst all the tenants.

It seems that you mentioning " the shared apartment" :)

[Anglika]

No - it's a bit different from a shared apartment. More like a college dorm.