Banking on Housing; Spending the Home, 2004-2007

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.This project is part of the ESRC's Cultures of Consumption programme. It documents the processes by which housing equity ebbs and flows between bricks and mortar and other goods and services. Options for 'spending the home' include debt consolidation and the purchase of safety net services, as well as investments to add value and/or to create livings spaces. Equally the equity in homes may be used to buy education, lifestyles, time, or a range of other 'things'. By charting the negotiations and decisions directing streams of housing equity into the wider cultural and material environment, this project casts light on the meaning, significance and use of housing wealth in consumption, and on its theoretical, practical and policy-linked consequences. The data comprises of discussions about housing wealth, mortgage debt, and mortgage equity withdrawal. They were held with 119 home buyers in England. These mortgage holders were quota sampled from two previous studies to secure a spread of levels of unmortgaged housing equity and a range of mortgage types. The interview schedule considers: the extent to which home purchase is driven by likely investment returns; how 'mainstream' borrowers chose and manage their mortgage; and why, when and to what extent home buyers borrow from housing wealth to fund other expenditures. Interviews were open-ended and semi-structured, completed by telephone by an interview team of two. Interviews were conducted after initial contact by letter and telephone, by prior appointment with respondents who opted-in to the study, and had received appropriate information about the research. The interviews are transcribed verbatim. They are not marked up for hesitation, pauses, or expressions of emotion. Further information on this study can be found via the project's site Banking on Housing; Spending the Home and the ESRC's award page for Banking on Housing; Spending the Home.Main Topics:Housing wealth, mortgage equity withdrawal, owner-occupiers, consumptio