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 A leading US economist has claimed that Britons' obsession with property ownership is creating major instability in the UK housing market.
Dr Ian Shepherdson has explained that a combination of low interest rates and unscrupulous lending in America between 2002 and 2005 coaxed millions of renters into buying a property.
This created the knock-on effect of destabilising the market, leading to the turmoil which many commentators have cited as a major contributing factor to the current global economic downturn.
Speaking at the annual Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) conference, Dr Shepherdson also pointed out the role played by sub prime lending in the US property crash.
Home ownership levels remained stagnant at around 64 per cent for over 30 years in America, but by 2005 this figure had been pushed up to nearly 70 per cent by sub prime transactions.
CIH chief executive Sarah Webb said: "The nation often seems obsessed with home ownership. If you are one of the 45,000 people that get their first home repossessed this year then owner occupation won't have proved to be the route to personal wealth."
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