Largely depending on their means, people in Britain live in a diverse range of accommodation ranging from country mansions to single rooms or hostels in the inner cities. The majority, however, live in houses and (to a lesser extent) flats, either as owner-occupiers or as tenants paying rent. About 19 per cent of houses are detached, 31 per cent are semi-detached and 29 per cent are terraced. Purpose-built flats or maisonettes make up 15 per cent of the housing stock and converted flats or rooms account for 5 per cent.
Owner-occupation more than doubled between 1961 and 1997. The number of owner-occupied homes amounts to over 14 million in England. Most people buy their homes with a mortgage loan, with the property as security. Mortgages are available from building societies, banks and other financial institutions.
There are some 3.6 million houses and flats in the public housing sector. Most of the public housing in Great Britain is provided by local housing authorities. Over one-third of local authority tenants live in purpose-built flats or maisonettes, one-third in terraced houses and about one-quarter in semi-detached houses. Most have the right to buy the homes they occupy if they wish.
Housing associations, which are non-profit-making, are now the main providers of additional low-cost housing for rent and for sale to those on low incomes and in the greatest housing need. The housing association sector is expanding rapidly; associations now own, manage and maintain over 950,000 homes and about 65,000 hostel and special needs bed-spaces in Great Britain, providing homes for well over a million people.
Almost 10 per cent of households are rented from private landlords.