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Owning and renting

 

Most British people do not ‘belong’ to a particular place, nor are they usually brought up in a long-established family house to which they can always return. Perhaps this is why they are not usually content to rent their accommodation. Wherever they are, they like to put down roots.

The desire to own the place where you live is almost universal in Britain. However, house prices are high. This dilemma is overcome by the mortgage system, which is probably a more established aspect of everyday life than it is anywhere else in the world. About 70% of all the houses in the country are occupied by their owners and almost all of these were bought with a mortgage. At any one time, half of these are owned by people who have borrowed 80% (or even more) of their price and are now paying this money back month by month. The normal arrangement is for the borrower to pay back the money over a period of twenty to twenty-five years. The financial institu­tions known as 'building societies' were originally set up to provide mortgages. In the 198os, however, regulations were relaxed, so that banks now offer mortgages as well.

Although nearly everybody wants to own their house, it was only at the end of the twentieth century that a majority of people began to do so. Before that time, most working-class people lived in rented accommodation. At one time, most of them rented from private landlords, some of whom exploited them badly. In the 1950s and 1960s, however, millions of homes were built by local govern­ment authorities. By 1977, two-thirds of all tenants lived in these ‘council houses’ (or, in some cases, flats). Council rents are subsidized, so they are low. Each local council keeps a waiting list of households who want to move into a council property.

From 1950 to 1980 the proportion of ‘owner-occupiers’ gradually increased. With both owner-occupiers and council tenants increasing in numbers, the percentage of people who rented from private landlords became one of the lowest in the world - and continues tobe so.

Then during the 1980s, the number of owner-occupiers increased more sharply. A major part of the philosophy of Thatcherism (under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher) was the idea of the ‘property-owning democracy’. Council tenants were allowed to buy their council houses and were given financial incentives to do so. The de­regulation of mortgage-lending also encouraged house-buying. So did an increase in the financial help given to owners who wanted to make improvements to their property. At the same time, local councils were severely limited in the number of properties which they could build and were also encouraged to sell their prop­erties to private ‘housing associations’. As a result, the number of council tenants actually decreased.

By the mid 199os, the trends of the previous decade seemed to have halted. Fewer council-house tenants were buying their houses and tax relief on mortgages was being phased out. The policy of selling off council houses had been discredited by the ‘homes-for-votes’ scandal. In the early 1990s it became clear that a few local councils run by the Conservative party had decided to keep their properties empty, instead of renting them to families who needed them, until they found buyers for them. The idea was that the buyers would probably vote Conservative - while people who could only afford to rent would probably not.

III Find in the text equivalents to the given phrases:

to guarantee solitude; to be longed-for; delimitation; strong affection; the house, which is passed from one generation to another; to get into awkward predicament; to be fond of; some real facts; to set the mood; to enjoy superiority over something; to surmount; a problem; to keep something in bad condition; to make somebody stop; to go flop; to point out; the wrong way; trouble.

 

IV. Guess the notions to which the following are definitions:

1) the most desirable home for an Englishman, a dwelling which is a separate building;

2) the financial institutions which were set to provide mortgages;

3) people who inhabit blocks of flats and have to share the same floor and foyer downstairs;

4) a special loan given by financial our for the purchase of the real estate;

5) companies whose role is to keep people to buy and sell their houses.

 

V. Answer the questions:

1) Why does almost everybody in Britain dream of living in a detached house?

2) Why are high-rise blocks are not so popular in Britain?

3) What does the rule that “homes” are more important that “houses” imply?

4) What opportunities for self-expression does the private property give?

5) How does the idea of “cosiness” find expression in the British house?

6) You know that house prices in Britain are very high. Nevertheless, the desire to own the place is very strong. How is this dilemma overcome? How is this problem solved in our country?

7) How was the policy of selling off council houses discredited in the 1990?

8) Compare the most popular types of dwelling in Britain and in Russia? Are they the same?

9) Do you agree that a person’s home is reflection of his personality? What can you say of the British people judging by their houses?

10) What is your concept of an “ideal home”?

VI. Match the description with the name of the dwelling:

1) One building with two separate Households. Each house is the mirror of the other, inside and out, but has a separate front garden. At the sides, there is access to the back where there will also be two gardens. Usually has two floors and three bedrooms. a) a flat    
2) This kind of house usually has no way through to the back except through the house itself. Each house in the row is joined to the next one. They usually have two floors with two bedrooms upstairs. Some have gardens back and front, others only at the back and others no garden at all. b) a detached house
3) A dwelling in one building which does not have a separate entrance to the outside world. The residents of it have to share the corridor outside their front door the foyer downstairs. c) town house
4) These houses can be found in the inner areas of most cities. There is great variety regarding both design and use. They often have three or more floors, perhaps including a basement or semi-basement. Many have been broken up into flats or rooms for rent. d) a semi-detached house
5) The house which is usually made of brick and slate and has the irregular, “non - classical” shape with all those little corners, making the house feel “cosy”. There is a large front garden with trees and bushes, evoking not only the countryside but also giving greater privacy. e) a terraced house

VII. Comment on the following sayings:

1) An Englishman’s home is his castle.

2) Men make houses, women make homes.

3) There is no place like home.

 




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