ABSTRACT
Even though it forms the financial, spatial and meaningful basis of household security for most families, it was not so long ago that owner-occupied housing was considered of relatively minor significance to social conditions and economic life. Post-war policy debates, especially in European contexts, largely understood housing issues in terms of shelter and focused on the welfare of working households. This stimulated a conceptual and material focus on subsidized rental housing provision, with home ownership considered preferable for those ‘better off’. This model, however, has faded as housing, and home ownership in particular, has increasingly adopted a more central role in socio-economic affairs and welfare issues.
