The UK Is Not the Nation of Homeowners Many Think It Is
A great deal of housing stock in Britain is leasehold. That’s long muddled the concept of property ownership.
What is mine?
Source: Bloomberg
Some 63% of households in England and Wales describe themselves as owning the home they live in, with 33% of those that don’t have mortgages perhaps believing they own that home outright. That sounds great, but it’s not quite true.
Think about what ownership really means. An A.M. Honore 1961 essay on the subject set out the generally accepted bundle of rights that make up full ownership. They include principles such as the right to use a thing, the right to manage it, the right to destroy it, the right to leave it to your heirs, the right to hold it indefinitely and the right to its exclusive use. That sort of thing. Now keep that list in your head and think about how the UK property market really works.