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  • © 2018

Ownership, Narrative, Things

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Offers the first academic study of shared ownership schemes in the UK that is independent from stakeholders in the industry
  • Brings together expertise from socio-legal studies as well as housing and social policy
  • Holds broad appeal beyond academics, for both practitioners and anyone with an interest in the issue of housing

Part of the book series: Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies (PSLS)

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
  2. Ownership, Narrative, Things

    • Dave Cowan, Helen Carr, Alison Wallace
    Pages 1-41
  3. Shared Ownership and Housing Policy

    • Dave Cowan, Helen Carr, Alison Wallace
    Pages 43-71
  4. The Lease

    • Dave Cowan, Helen Carr, Alison Wallace
    Pages 73-97
  5. Managing Shared Ownership

    • Dave Cowan, Helen Carr, Alison Wallace
    Pages 99-126
  6. Selling and Buying Shared Ownership

    • Dave Cowan, Helen Carr, Alison Wallace
    Pages 127-155
  7. Experiencing Shared Ownership

    • Dave Cowan, Helen Carr, Alison Wallace
    Pages 157-178
  8. Assembling Shared Ownership

    • Dave Cowan, Helen Carr, Alison Wallace
    Pages 179-206
  9. Messiness and Techniques of Simplification

    • Dave Cowan, Helen Carr, Alison Wallace
    Pages 207-215
  10. Erratum to: Ownership, Narrative, Things

    • Dave Cowan, Helen Carr, Alison Wallace
    Pages E1-E1
  11. Back Matter

    Pages 217-239

About this book

This book uses a case study of a low-cost home ownership initiative at the margins of renting and owning provided by social landlords – known as shared ownership – to challenge everyday assumptions held about the ‘social’ and the ‘legal’ in property. The authors provide a study of the construction of property ownership, from the creation of this idea through to the present day, and offer a fresh consideration of key issues surrounding property, ownership, and the social.

Analysing a diverse range of sources (from archives to micro-blogs, observation of housing providers, and interviews with shared owners), the authors explain the significance of the things (from the formal documents like leases, to odd materials like sweet wrappers and cigarette butts) commonly found in the narratives around shared ownership which are used to construct it as private ownership in everyday life. Ultimately, they uncover how this dream of ownership can become tarnished when people’s identities as‘owners’ come under threat, and as such, these findings will provide fascinating insight into the intricacies of so-called home ownership for scholars of Law, Criminology, and Sociology.






Authors and Affiliations

  • School of Law, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Dave Cowan

  • Kent Law School, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom

    Helen Carr

  • Centre for Housing Policy, University of York, York, United Kingdom

    Alison Wallace

About the authors

Dave Cowan is Professor of Law and Policy at the University of Bristol, UK.

Helen Carr is Professor of Law at the University of Kent, UK.

Alison Wallace is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Housing Policy, University of York, UK.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access