What Are The Basic Reasons Behind The UK Populations’ Ceaseless Desire To Be An Owner Of Property?
, Posted in: Uncategorized, Author: (September 1, 2010)
Like many other people in the country as a whole my ears perk up when I hear that the Halifax, Nationwide or the Institute of Surveyors has made a prediction or an announcement about the UK housing market. Usually the same old thoughts go through my mind. “Should I Sell My House? Should I purchase yet another house? Should I think of having a place to rent out to students as my neighbour does precisely this and he’s worth a bob or two ?”
It’s quite understandable enough to say that people in the UK as a whole are obsessed with property. When We Buy Homes it is fair to say that we are buying into a bit more than just the bricks and mortar that they are built with. No, We Buy Houses as part of a growing popular trend for nest feathering which means that ever increasing quantities of our disposable income are spent on the house, flat, garden – in fact anything that is to do with the home ! It truly has become a lifestyle wherein we work to support the house, rather than seeing one’s property as merely a dwelling. The astronomic growth of the DIY sector has , in my humble opinion, been due to something more than the desire to save money on trained tradesmen and artisans.
No, We Buy Homes now as an all consuming hobby, a means of entertainment. If you like, we are all playing a game, but one where real money is spent and the commitment is overpowering as when We Buy Houses it’s a type of Monopoly but in the real world. The DIY shop has evolved from a shoddy counter store at which people could buy nails to nail things together, screws to screw things together and pieces of tube to connect things together.
What a change today. An outing to any out of town DIY superstore is almost a trip to a material world wonderland with advertising and lighting displays enticing us to spend our money on credit to make our homes resemble the striking traditional and innovative displays that we see as we amble gently around the store. It has to be noticed that whilst we are doing this, often of an evening after stopping off from work at the office , we are not really spending any time at home which probably has real world issues in it such as dust , unfinished DIY projects and the dogs’ toys !
No, my contention is that the English public have more than just basic shelter in mind when We Buy Homes. It’s back to the old days of keeping up with the Joneses in that if your largest purchase, usually your house, is bigger, better and more well fitted out than your perceived rivals then you are in a way a better, more socially upwardly mobile person and for us in the UK property ownership is the pole that we hoist our flags on as far as social status goes.
Rarely if at any time do we hear the words “I’m going to Sell My House and buy a nice tent to live in” . Or even “I’ll Sell My House and rent for the rest of my days and use the returns to pay my monthly rent”.
I propose that it’s all down to snobbery. In many other countries home ownership is not a social climber as it is in the UK and my premise here is that , at least in part , this is attributed to a history of social hierarchy that dates back to heaven only knows when , but seems to have permeated our culture to the extent that it’s unthinkable to distinguish between status and property ownership.
Looks like British snobbery still rules OK !