This paper is concerned with one of the most elemental structural features of British society: who owns it?  

 

Since classical antiquity, thinkers have recognised an intimate connection between the ownership of private property and the vitality of a political order. Ownership gives people self-sufficiency, independence, and a sense of stake in their community, both local and national. It is a spur for enterprise, a driver of the economy, and an aspirational ideal around which the country can unite. 

 

A century ago this year, a little-known thinker called Noel Skelton argued that democratic societies in particular require a broad base of property owners to endure. Diffusing property ownership, he argued, would stabilise the relationship between capitalism and democracy, and improve the character and moral qualities of citizens. He called his vision the property owning democracy.

 

Britain today seems a long way from Skelton’s ideal. Property ownership is narrowing across our society. Homeownership is collapsing for younger demographics. The individual shareholder is virtually disappearing from the UK stock market, replaced by overseas institutional investors. Many firms with proximate ownership structures are being squeezed out of the business community. All of these trends are vitiating popular support for capitalism, as well as  making our society more brittle.

 

This paper makes the moral and economic case for a vast diffusion of property ownership in this country. It sets out how we might advance the cause of wider ownership in housing, the equities market, infrastructure from energy assets to high streets, and  businesses and industry. And it argues that only by recommitting to the ideal of a property owning democracy can we restore faith in capitalism, unlock the UK’s vast economic potential and build a more cohesive society.