Difference between “a self contained apartment” and “a mini flat”

There has been lot of conjectures and vagueness associated with ‘self-contained apartments’ and ‘mini flats’. Some people get confused when both are mentioned in the same context because they seem to sound the same when you try to pick out the words. We will quickly elucidate the ambivalence that arises when people seem not to spot the difference between a mini-flat and a self contained apartment.

Self Contained Apartments
As the name implies, a self contained apartment is a single room modified beyond the typical rooms found in tenement buildings popularly called ‘face me – I slap you’. It houses a toilet, bathroom and occasionally a kitchen end suite. In other words a self contained apartment is a single room that stands on its own independent of any outside facility that usually makes up a complete house unlike what is attainable in a tenement building where single room occupants have to come out of their comfort zone to find comfort.

However the term self contained just like ‘face me -I slap’ you is peculiarly used in Nigeria. In places such as Europe and America it is usually called a ‘studio flat’ or a ‘self catering flat’. A self contained apartment is styled for all-purpose and is mostly popular amongst university students staying off-campus, working class single ladies who are away from family and sometimes bachelors.

Self-contained apartments provides an good alternative for the so called ‘face me- I slap you’ apartments where drama is the order of the day. A lot of people prefer it to save them the stress of being subjected to backbiting, quarrels, fights, pollution willingly and unwillingly.

Mini Flats

Comparatively, a mini flat is an apartment that consists of a single bedroom and a sitting room, kitchen, bathroom and toilet. A Mini-flat is akin to a typical “room and parlour”, the difference been that all the aforementioned facilities are en suite in a mini flat. That is to say that kitchen, bathroom, toilet are enclosed within the mini flat apartment. Simply put, the notable difference between a mini flat and a self contained apartment is the addition of a room to the mini flat which represents the sitting room.

Therefore, a mini flat is a much better option than a self contained apartment though their price varies. A Mini flat is usually more expensive than a self contained and the price difference could go for as much as N50-N 150 thousand.

So there really shouldn’t be any form of rivalry between a mini flat and a self contained. They are not the same kind of apartments bearing different name; their grades differ.

No matter how small the difference is, a mini flat will never be a self contained apartment