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Using comparisons with the experience in Singapore, this chapter reflects on the philosophical foundations of Hong Kong's land-supply and housing policies, arguing for a justification of government intervention on the grounds both of efficiency, because of market failures, and of equity, because of the need to ensure access to housing and home finance, particularly for the lower-paid. In a review of recent volatility and policy errors, the chapter argues for policies that are less fixated on home ownership.

This chapter looks into why there is an enormous aspiration within the community for homeownership, and glances at the housing policies implemented by the government over the past few decades. It also examines why the majority of the younger generation has to rely on their parents’ financial support to purchase a flat. The government has to come up with a more wholesale change of policy with regard to homeownership, with a view to enlarging homeownership in the community so that even the have-nots can benefit. The author also suggests that the government should review its discounted premium collection policy on the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats in a bid to achieve a triple-win situation. Ill-defined property rights may give rise to mammoth negotiation costs and complicate the redevelopment of HOS flats, and some recommendations which require merely easy-to-adjust changes are put forward.

Chapter 4 concentrates on new household formation and the tenure choices of younger age groups. Not only have the young experienced lower rates of home ownership than previous generations, but they are more likely to remain with parents for longer or share with those in a similar position. The UK is not alone and many other countries have experienced similar trends. Since younger households are now more likely to rent privately for longer, the chapter discusses whether this represents a change in preferences – renting is more flexible – or whether young households are constrained from entering home ownership by high housing costs, credit constraints, job insecurity, competition from the Buy to Let market, demand from older households and from those wanting second homes.

The ownership of residential property has always been a focus for urban conflict and a key source of advantage and disadvantage-in terms of location and social status. Park`s Chicago was a city conceived of as having a hierarchy of housing situations with a distinct spatial pattern. Rex and Moore`s Birmingham of the 1960s developed these ideas through a Weberian conception of housing classes and greater attention to institutional gatekeepers. This chapter argues that their argument that the competition for housing contributes to a particular form of social stratification finds new resonance in the contemporary Chinese city. The narrative traverses over a century in considering the ways in which the competition for housing in cities of migrants involves common processes but also quite distinct experiences and outcomes. Over space and time, the meaning of home ownership has changed as has the nature and role of zones of transition for migrants and those on the social margins. The ownership of residential property has always been a focus for urban conflict and a key source of advantage and disadvantage-in terms of location and social status. Park`s Chicago was a city conceived of as having a hierarchy of housing situations with a distinct spatial pattern. Rex and Moore`s Birmingham of the 1960s developed these ideas through a Weberian conception of housing classes and greater attention to institutional gatekeepers. This chapter argues that their argument that the competition for housing contributes to a particular form of social stratification finds new resonance in the contemporary Chinese city. The narrative traverses over a century in considering the ways in which the competition for housing in cities of migrants involves common processes but also quite distinct experiences and outcomes. Over space and time, the meaning of home ownership has changed as has the nature and role of zones of transition for migrants and those on the social margins.

The HOLC provided significant relief to individual borrowers and lenders, and also pursued a more general public mission. HOLC officials were determined to stabilize mortgage and housing markets by interrupting the cycle of foreclosures and price declines that caused a downward spiral in the early 1930s. This chapter describes the findings of an econometric analysis of HOLC activity in local housing markets. The evidence shows that on average the HOLC prevented declines in house prices and home ownership outside the nation’s largest cities between 1930 and 1940, but did not affect construction in those markets. The authors identify these effects by using the location of HOLC offices as a source of randomness affecting the allocation of refinance activity. The effect of the HOLC on markets in larger cities is still an open question.

The Illinois trailer park has generous lots, amenities, and liberal pet rules. Choosing this trailer park over alternative local options highlights parental priorities for: affordable housing and children’s access to a quality education. But the adjacent town resists formally incorporating this bordering large park. Prioritizing homeownership, country living, and education are values Illinois park folk share with those in nearby upscale subdivisions. They uniformly believe, however, they are scorned, by the townspeople, who stigmatize them as trailer-trash, because of where they live. That stigma particularly creates a soiled identity for park youth.

This chapter introduces the HOLC by exploring how it provided relief to one borrower, Joshua C. from Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, who faced foreclosure in 1934 due to a lower market value for his house, less income, and medical debts. The chapter also provides an overview of the book and a summary of its principal findings.