I went this week to a session of the Myths & Realities series, hosted by the British Library in association with the Academy of Social Sciences. The topic was: A property-owning democracy: myth or reality? The M&R is an excellent series of debates on topical issues, and housing remains a much-neglected policy issue.
Christine Whitehead of the LSE led off with an excellent overview of how far we have become property-owners, over time and in comparison with other countries. There seems to be a plateau of some kind of around 70% of home ownership, which hardly any country goes beyond (many do not get close to that – notably Germany with around 40% being homeowners).
The debate linked back to the very original work done by John Bynner on assets. John showed – using, of course, cohort study data – how an extraordinarily small level of savings often makes a big difference when it comes to people’s life chances, for instance in relation to employment and health. An amount as low as £300-400 is almost a threshold, low though that seems. This work led directly to the setting up of the Child Trust Funds under the last government – a wonderful example of evidence-based analysis leading to a policy decision (though John and I disagree on the merits of the CTF – but that’s another story).
Anyway, in the context of the housing debate, the question is: does home ownership operate as an asset in the same way as savings do, affecting people’s attitudes to risk/security? The answer is surely yes. Most of the discussion of home ownership, not surprisingly, has been around the wealth it generates for owners and more recently the financial implications. But the way in which it gives people more control of their lives, and enables them (psychologically and materially) to engage in activities and initiatives which they otherwise could not, is an important area for research. In particular it would, I’m sure, further illuminate the depth of the social divide between property-owners and the rest. A similar study to John’s, using longitudinal data, could be very important.