In this chapter, the different ways in which ownership is regulated are considered. Three different types of regulation are examined. The first, regulating desire, is broader than formal regulation, but concerns the ways in which desire for ownership is produced within the housing system. This section deals with the policy through which home ownership (and the use of the word ‘home’ in conjunction with ‘ownership’ is important here) has been promoted at the level of the state and beyond. The second, regulating law, concerns the rather different effects that the law of property has on that regulation. It is sometimes suggested, or believed, that the law should mirror the promotion of home ownership and, as a result, protect those owners. The law, however, has not reached this state of recognising a home interest. The focus here is on the conflict which arises between individual home owners and their lenders. The third section concerns the regulation of the banking and building society industry. At the time of writing, this has become the hot topic.

Regulating desire

In this section, we are particularly concerned with the general housing policies which have promoted home ownership, influencing the desire so to speak. The importance of this discussion to housing studies as a discipline is significant: there is considerable work about the (social) constructions of ownership, but it is also important that this discussion links in with the next section about the regulating effects of law. The two are intimately related (see the discussion in FSA 2010a about ‘responsible borrowing’).