Forms of Tenure and Social Structure: A Comparison of Owning and Renting in Australia and Sweden

Abstract

While there is an extensive literature within urban sociology on housing in general,l the sociology of tenureand in particular of the factors influencing the balance of predominant forms of tenure in different societies has been almost entirely neglected.2 This neglect is all the more surprising considering the importance of different types of tenure for life-styles, notably spending patterns and residential mobility. Home-ownership, for example, is a form of tenure which involves certain fundamental commitments on the part of the householder which have far-reaching consequences not only for the householder but also for the structure of the urban environment and the wider society. Yet our knowledge of the various constraints and incentives which make home-ownership more or less widespread in different societies is virtually non-existent. Bearing this in mind it might be noted that social values concerning the desirability of home-ownership as a form of tenure (as against its major alternative of renting) occupy a peculiarly important place in a number of societies, and most notably in Australia. While the Great American Dream involves aspirations of occupational mobility and independence, the Great Australian Dream, and the related rhetoric about 'a property-owning democracy', involves a commitment to home-ownership. Not only is the preference for home-ownership unquestioningly accepted by the overwhelming majority of Australians, but considerable amounts of money are committed by governments to enable people to buy homes.3 The high value placed on home-ownership is, of course, not a uniquely Australian characteristic, although Australia has one of the highest home-ownership rates in the industrialized world. In Britain, for example, the concept of 'housing classes' in which home-ownership is considered the first choice of form of tenure, implies a similar normative orientation.4 One consequence of what is at least a fairly widespread preference for home-ownership in certain societies is that it has tended to result in an unquestioning acceptance of the inherent superiority of home-ownership as a form of tenure. It is perhaps for this