These homes all need Apartment Life to work and were made with all EPs to Apartment Life.
They are modelled on what is nowadays called "Social housing" - low-end homes for Sims just getting started in their careers. In England this kind of housing used to be provided by the Council or Local Authority; these aer fairly typical of the Council Housing built in England in the mid-twentieth century. More recent social housing has been built by Housing Associations instead, and tends to be a lot nicer!