This is the Guardian.

Today, the dream of owning your own home

and the reality of the housing crisis.

The Guardian

The Guardian

In the late 70s, Helen and her husband were at college in Leicester.

They were getting by on student loans and they had a baby to look after too.

So when they were offered a council house with cheap rent, they grasped the chance.

How much rent had you been paying?

6 pound a week I think it was.

Which was brilliant.

Having that house given to us at that stage meant that we could both continue at college.

In 1980, a few years after they moved in,

the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher announced a new housing scheme called Right to Buy.

This policy would allow people who lived in council houses like Helen to buy their homes at a discount.

I can remember it being a big new thing and great opportunities for people who wouldn't normally be able to get on to the property ladder.

And this idea of owning your own home was promoted as the be all an end all really.

This was one of Thatcher's flagship policies.

She said she dreamed of a property owning democracy where everybody would be able to own their own homes if they worked hard enough.

So we took it up and bought the property.

And we then went on to sell it in about 84.

So we only owned it for probably three years before we sold it on because our circumstances were improving.

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