ABSTRACT
Our study of Guadalajara and Puebla has produced both evidence which supports some existing preconceptions about rental housing and other findings which are much more surprising. It is clear that most Mexican households desire home-ownership, but it is equally clear that not all poor families wish to achieve ownership through a process of self-help construction on the urban periphery. It is clear that many households wish to escape from the insecurity of being tenants, but it is also evident that the picture of the fearsome, grasping landlord is an inaccurate representation of most owners of rental housing. What our results demonstrate is that rental housing accommodates a wide range of different kinds of household and that few overarching generalisations describe it accurately.
