Owner-occupation is by far the preferred form of housing tenure in the UK and its share has increased every year over the last two decades.

After rising from 55.4% in 1980 to 65.8% in 1990, the growth rate slowed but the proportion of house buyers continued to rise and now stands at 70.3%. The increase has been primarily at the expense of the public rented sector (council houses).

In absolute terms, the rise represents an increase of over five million in the number of British owner-occupied households in the last 25 years, and of more than two million since 1995.

The rapid growth in the 1980s owed much to the ‘Right to Buy’ policy, which enabled council tenants to purchase their property at a discount related to their length of tenure.

The result was a transfer of over one million properties from the public sector to the owner occupier sector.

It is also apparent from survey evidence that among non-homeowners, the desire to own remains high. Of the projected increase of 3.8 million households in the period up to 2021, some 76% (2.9 million) are expected to be owner-occupied.

The key to the housing market is the first-time buyer, because without new entrants on to the housing ladder, it is difficult for those already on it to move up or down.

As important as the size of the market is the rate of turnover. This is because an estimated 15% of retail sales are housing related and a number of ancillary activities (e.g. estate agents, newspaper advertising, mortgage lending, surveyors) all depend on a high level of transactions.

During the boom of the late 1980s, homeowners were moving once every eight years but this dropped back to once every 12.5 years during the recession of the early 1990s. During the most recent boom, transactions averaged 1.65 million a year between 2003 and 2007 (a move every 9.3 years), and the ‘average’ price moved up close to £200,000.

This recession has bitten deep into the market as prices fell by almost 20% in 2008 and the number of transactions dipped below a million for the first time in nearly 35 years.The 898,000 housing transactions in 2008 represented a move once every 17 years for homeowners, a virtual doubling of the average stay per property.

This translates into significantly reduced business volumes for the surveyors, estates agents, solicitors, removal firms, financial institutions, etc. which depend on turnover in the market for business.

The impact on the retail sector might, however, be eased if the homeowners who do not move spend more on their existing properties.