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This paper assesses the relevance of mortgage-led consumption for the assemblage of home. Drawing on qualitative research completed in the UK, we show how the materials and meanings of owner-occupation are constituted by, and experienced through, the accumulation and deployment of secured debt. This is enabled by a particular financial regime, in which the proceeds of equity borrowing are freed for discretionary expenditure. Homes and their contents thus acquire the status of "debted objects", and these form an interface between the financial and familial values comprising residential space. By attending to these mortgage-enabled purchases, we expose and evaluate the myriad ways in which equity borrowings animate the assemblage of home, adding value to property, linking domestic space with distant geographies and inspiring the art of dwelling.

'Community energy' in broad terms refers to electricity and/or heat production on a small, local scale that may be governed by or for local people or otherwise capable of providing them with direct beneficial outcomes. In practice it encompasses a wide variety of technologies, organisational arrangements, and potential outcomes, with these outcomes including collective economic returns, reduced fuel poverty, carbon mitigation, greater community cohesion, and an increased knowledge of sustainable energy technologies. However, there are a number of challenging practical and regulatory barriers that can stand in the way of the further development of such systems. Recent experience is considered in this article largely in the context of the United Kingdom and other European countries. © 2012

A number of critiques have been published drawing attention to gaps in research methods applied to issues surrounding homelessness in the United Kingdom. In this article, we discuss the use of innovative approaches and methods drawn from the field of applied social psychology and their applications to these issues. In so doing, we review the recent social psychology and homelessness literature, highlighting themes such as social identity, agency (efficacy), and service utilisation. Finally, the relevance of these perspectives for future research on homelessness in the United Kingdom is discussed.

In many countries, tax authorities treat building savings favorably, in order to incentivize homeownership. A solution that addresses home price risk can be provided by using property derivatives. Index-linked mortgages thus provide Pareto improvements by allocating collateral risk more optimally and by reducing the number of default and related costs. Housing is one of the biggest financial assets that most households will ever own. However, management of housing risk is difficult, since there are virtually no instruments that insure against rising or falling home prices. The financial solutions which are described in this chapter would be able to allocate risks and returns more appropriately. Linking the financial instruments that are commonly used in the context of housing, building savings, and mortgages, to a home price index addresses the issues naturally.

The positive health effects of owner-occupation, compared to renting, are well documented. But home ownership is itself heterogeneous, as is the health profile of its incumbents, and this is less well recognised. Drawing from a mixed-methods study, which includes 150 qualitative interviews with a cross-section of UK mortgage holders, this paper examines the health implications of a definitive feature of owned housing: its role as a financial tool. In particular, we ask whether there is anything about the process of accumulating wealth into housing or spending from this resource, that enhances well-being (or that adds to psycho-social stress). This question is timely, coming at the end of a long-wave of house-price appreciation, in a setting where it is easy to borrow from housing wealth, under a policy regime that looks increasingly to owned homes as an asset base for welfare. The answer casts light on whether, in what circumstances, to what extent, and by what mechanism, home ownership - the dominant housing tenure of the English-speaking world - might enhance the well-being of individuals, communities and societies.

Although consumption studies now dominate large areas of social and cultural research, relatively little attention has been paid to the consumption of financial products and services. However, the consumption of mortgages moved to centre‐stage in the early twenty‐first century, as products that were once tightly rationed were more actively sold, and households were faced with an unprecedented array of borrowing options. Drawing from qualitative telephone interviews with a cross‐section of 150 UK home‐buyers, this paper explores the way households in a credit‐rich setting choose and use their mortgages. We argue that, notwithstanding the risks commonly and rightly associated with the financialization of domestic space, mainstream borrowers are often "at home" with their mortgage: they can generally navigate the mortgage maze and put their mortgage to work.

Most debate on home ownership and risk has focused on the management of mortgage debt. But there are other risks for home buyers in settings where housing dominates people's wealth portfolios: where the investment dimensions of property are at a premium; and where housing wealth is, de facto, an asset base for welfare. This article draws from qualitative research with 150 UK mortgage holders to assess the character, extent and possible mitigation of this wider risk regime. The analysis first explores the value home buyers attach to the financial returns on housing. Next we document the extent to which home equity is earmarked and used as a financial buffer. Finally, reflecting on the merits and limitations of this tactic, we conclude by asking whether - in the interests of housing and social policy, as well as with a view to managing the economy - there is any need, scope or appetite for more actively sharing the financial risks and investment gains of housing systems anchored on owner-occupation.

British mortgagors hold more wealth in their homes than ever before. They are spending more freely from these assets now than they are likely to again. 'Banking on housing' is concerned with when, where, why and how people choose and use their mortgages to roll equity out of housing and into other things. It is a study of the consumption of housing, the consumption of mortgages, and the use of housing wealth in consumption more broadly.