Has Thatcher's Dream of a Property-Owning Democracy been smashed?
Has the idyll of owning your own home been impacted by the recent decrease in homeownership and increase in privately rented households as seen in the 2021 Census?
The 1980s Boom in Homeownership
In 1975, Margaret Thatcher, the new leader of the Conservative Party, introduced the idea of a 'property-owning democracy' in her first conference speech. She believed that everyday British families should have the opportunity to purchase their own homes through hard work and saving, giving them security, self-esteem, and independence. In 1980, she introduced the Right-to-Buy legislation which allowed local authority tenants to buy their council homes at discounted prices. This led to a boom in homeownership in the 1980s and made buying a house a national passion.
Recent Changes in Homeownership and Renting
However, the 2021 Census has shown that the proportion of home ownership has fallen to its lowest level since 1985. The proportion of households owned in the country fell from 64.1% to 62.5% between 2011 and 2021. On the other hand, the proportion of privately rented households has risen to its highest since the late 1960s, with 20.4% of households renting from a private landlord. This means that the proportion of British households in private rental accommodation has more than doubled in the past two decades.
The Local Perspective
When we look at the local statistics for the Huntingdonshire council area, we see a similar trend. The percentage of households owned in Huntingdonshire has dropped from 71.2% in 2011 to 70.3% in 2021. However, the number of owned households in Huntingdonshire has increased from 49,398 in 2011 to 54,074 in 2021, a rise of 9.5%. This contradiction can be explained by the fact that the number of privately rented households in Huntingdonshire has grown even more, increasing from 10,488 in 2011 to 12,920 in 2021, a rise of 23.2%.
Furthermore, the proportion of homeowners with a mortgage has dropped. In 2021, of the 62.5% of homeowner households, those without a mortgage has increased to 32.8%, and those with a mortgage has dropped to 29.7%.
So, has Margaret Thatcher's dream of a property-owning democracy been smashed?
The answer is not that simple. While nationally, home ownership is at the lowest level in many decades due to several factors, including the late 1980s and 2008 housing crash, negative equity, the credit crunch and increased mortgage regulation. However, every local authority in Britain has seen an increase in the number and proportion of private renters over the past 20 years. This shows that while the dream of homeownership may be out of reach for some, the market is still providing options for housing, just in a different form.