Coping Strategies, Housing Careers and Households With Negative Equity

Abstract

The prolonged and pervasive recession in the UK property market has produced significant numbees of households with unsecured housing debt – negative equity. These homeowners are typically recent, first-time buyers and are concentrated in the southern core regions of Britain. Various aggregate estimates exist of the numbers of households with unsecured debt and the amounts of money involved; little is known, however, about individual experiences of negative equity. Here, in-depth interview data are drawn on to explore the different strategies adopted by households in varying social and financial circumstances. Findings are related to more general changes in housing market behaviour and to broader theoretical debates about the growth of home ownership.