ABSTRACT
The level of ‘interest’ in the market for houses is arguably at an all-time high. This is reflected in the sheer number of programmes about house purchase, selling and renovation that can now be seen on TV screens. The content of such programmes demonstrates that housing is now regarded as a form of consumption that transmits the social identity and position of the owner (Bridge 2001). In other words, the dwellings that we live in are no longer supposed to be simply ‘for us’, that is, places to live in. They are supposed to communicate something about our social identity and social position to a generalised other.
