The Demand for Home Ownership

Abstract

The level of home ownership in Britain has expanded rapidly since the turn of the century. The growth of the owner-occupied and council sectors has been created largely by new building, though a substantial proportion of houses in the former was originally privately rented. The sale of houses into owner occupation, together with the effects of redevelopment, have been the major causes of the demise of the privately rented sector. Naturally it is important to distinguish between preferences on the one hand and actions, which are the result of the interaction of choices and constraints, on the other. In fact these stated preferences for home ownership have not been reflected in vast numbers moving from local authority housing into owner occupation. The vast majority of the heads of these households are manual workers and a large proportion of these households contain at least two economically active members.