Flat and contract

The list for the paperwork rather than the furniture. English borrowed vis-à-vis whole and turned it into a preposition: « our position vis-à-vis the budget » means « regarding », and it is a slightly stiff word used in writing. French uses it here as a plain countable *noun*, and a very concrete one. Le vis-à-vis is the building or the window facing yours across the street — the neighbours who can see into your kitchen. Every flat advertisement in France carries it: il n’y a pas de vis-à-vis is a selling point, and it means nobody overlooks you. English has no noun for this and says « not overlooked », turning it into a verb. Literally it is « face to face », which is also what it means when two people sit that way — but the property sense is the one a tenant meets first.