Owning a house is not a prerequisite for economic maturity: many Germans never buy a property. And the idea that an Englishman's home is his castle has everything to do with his legal rights and nothing to do with owning the blasted place.

Edmund Conway has an entertaining rant in the Telegraph about the unsustainability of the British home-buying culture. The conclusions? 1) The Bank of England should control maximum loan-to-value ratios when it comes to mortgage lending. (But wouldn't that place more power into the hands of the cash-rich landlord class?) 2) Harsher home taxation, either in the form of a land tax, or by imposing capital gains tax to first homes. (What's the difference between Council Tax and a land tax? When would CG be payable? How wouldn't it stop people moving... and so damage the economy?) 3) Remove the stigma associated with renting. (Absolutely.)

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