Mortgage Finance and Housing Provision in Ireland, 1970-90

Abstract

Mortgage institutions actively shape the character of home-ownership in advanced capitalist economies. An understanding of the forces promoting institutional change and the nature of these changes provides insights into the developing structure of home ownership. Using a 'structures of housing provision' framework, this paper examines the dynamics of the Irish housing market over the period 1970-90. Combining data on macro-level trends in housing finance with information gathered from interviews with senior building society personnel, it is argued that the restructuring of the mortgage market in the 1980s has significantly altered the set of social relations that exist between agents located in the housing market and that these changes are having negative impacts on the owner-occupied sector.