ABSTRACT
In the past home ownership has been regarded as a relatively unproblematic form of tenure. However, this image is not surviving its rapid expansion during a period of recession. Particularly in the last year growing concern about home ownership has been expressed by academics housing professionals and the media. Contradictions and crises are emerging at a number of levels and for a number of different agencies in the home ownership process, notably for government, as the proponent of rapid increase in home ownership and for the building societies as the main agents of that increase. In this chapter we take these two groups in turn and discuss the dilemmas emerging from the growth of home ownership.
