ABSTRACT
Let us fi rst consider the current state of home ownership. At the time of writing this chapter, in the summer of 2008, the discourse is all negative – negative equity, credit crunch, repossessions and mortgage arrears. ‘Sub-prime’, a fi nancial-sector euphemism for low-income households that are bad credit risks, has entered the popular lexicon. Has the world fi nally changed? The health of the global economy has been seriously undermined partly through irresponsible lending for house purchase. Are we entering a post-home-ownership world in which households and institutions will approach borrowing and lending for house purchase with a new caution? Has home ownership reached its limit in its present form? Will the proportion of households in the tenure decline, at least in some countries? Perhaps more households will turn to private renting or new hybrid tenures and choose priorities other than feeding the mortgage monster, to paraphrase Bootle (1997).
