Occupying houses: the social relations of tenure

Abstract

With the shifts in housing tenure patterns in post-war Britain being so decisive and apparently relentless, one of the main issues that concerns those involved with housing is that of the impact of mass home-ownership - especially on those groups new to the tenure. These concerns range from the possible effect of new home-owner ship on voting patterns and political allegiances; to the financial hardship that seems to be increasingly falling on low income owner occupiers; and to the domestic and familial changes entailed by two-income mortgages. It is towards assessing the impact of these changes more fully, that this thesis is aimed. In order to better understand the origins and effects of tenure shifts, two main points are made. Firstly, that the occupation of houses (of whatever tenure) is an issue that involves practically everyone in society, either as individual tenants/owners/homeless persons, or as groups of ratepayers/voters/neighbourhoods or as business/financial/political interests, or as any combination of these. Secondly, it is emphasised that the terms and conditions of the various tenures have been created and have been altered and adapted over time, and that the definition and meaning of the tenures is as crucial to the housing debate as the well-recognised tenure trends. Consequently, it is argued that the changing patterns and definitions of tenures have a crucial and far-reaching effect on wider social relations in society whilst, at the same time, these changes originate from and in part reflect, already occurring events in civil society.