Silly question but what is this called?

[Theeasypeasywoman]

Hello, just like that , First time house owner but what is this called and what is the use of it? Is it a drain?

air brick?

Yep, air brick.

Breeze block for air flow.

Air brick for ventilation. It helps stop damp in cavity walls.

Air brick maybe

It's an air brick - for ventilation. Here's an explanation.

www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Airbrick

They are important so don’t block them with anything.

As others have said it's an airbrick. But whoever laid that path has made a mistake as all floors abutting walls with air bricks should be a minimum of 6 inches lower. As it stands, rain will go straight in and airbricks are designed to stop the suspended floors inside from rotting.

Not only that, but it appears half the airbrick is buried under the path.

@DustyMaiden

Breeze block for air flow.

I don't think "breeze block" means what you think. Breeze blocks are not the same as air bricks, but I can see that the names might seem similar. It's a term for an old-fashioned form of lightweight concrete block.

Breeze blocks were made with "breeze", a synonym for lightweight ash ("fly ash") which was used as a component in the concrete mix.

The term breeze block, like the US equivalent "cinder block", gets used for any concrete block, but really it means a particular kind used for internal walls where it won't get wet.

@JamFrogEgg Thanks for the information but just to let you know that the airbrick is very high up from the actual ground and what you see in the picture is actually one of the steps and it is located under a roof covered porch. not a single drop of rain touches it. And its not half. Thats the standard size. all of the houses on our street has the same even the ones not touching the ground. 🙂