The emergence of Britain as a fully-fledged home-owning society at the end of the last century has major implications for how houses are used not just as a home but as an asset. The key debate in this important and timely book is whether social policy and people's homes should be so closely connected, especially when housing markets are so volatile. It will be essential reading for all students and practitioners of housing and those concerned with how social and public policy is being shaped in the twenty-first century.