Owning part but losing all: using human rights to protect home ownership

Book section

In England the majority of householders live in homes that they own, with surveys demonstrating repeatedly the population’s strong preference for home ownership over renting. Home ownership has been actively promoted by successive governments for a mix of ideological and political reasons, and the Coalition Government continues to present the opportunity to own as central to its housing strategy. Ownership is sold as providing the opportunity for wealth accumulation, a financial buffer, collateral that can be borrowed against, and supporting a sense of security and stability. Yet rising housing prices mean that traditional home ownership – the purchase of a home funded through the buyer’s own resources and commercially available mortgage finance – has become the impossible dream for many. As a result, successive governments have sought to make this dream a reality by filling the affordability gap through Low Cost Home Ownership (LCHO) schemes...

Authors: Bright, S; Hopkins, N; Macklam, N

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Hart Publishing
• Host title: Modern Studies in Property Law
• Volume: 7
• Pages: 15-38
• Series: Modern Studies in Property Law
• Place of publication: http://www.hartpub.co.uk/SeriesDetails.aspx?SeriesName=Modern+Studies+in+Property+Law
• Publication date: 2013-01-01
• Edition: Accepted Manuscript
• ISBN: 9781849463218
• Language: English
• Subjects: Property law; Law