The Postwar Restructuring of the British Housing and Labour Markets: A Critical Comment on Thorns

In a recent paper in this journal, Thorns sought to relate together changes in the labour and domestic property markets in Britain since World War II. He argued that it was important to analyse the operation of these markets and the extent to which they operate to reinforce social inequalities. In this paper, it is argued that, although the issues Thorns raises are important ones, his analysis and conclusions are marred by his treatment of regional differences and trends in the rate of house price inflation over time. By generalising from data over a single year, Thorns sought to show that there was a strong link between the gains received from the labour market and those from the domestic property market.

Although there is no evidence at the regional level to support Thorns's assertions regarding the growth of interregional differentials in average house prices over time (if anything the evidence shows the reverse), it is suggested that the regional scale may not be the most appropriate scale of analysis, and some evidence is presented which indicates the possibility of growing inner-city/suburban differentials.

Finally, it is argued that the concentration on owner occupiers may well obscure the equally, if not more important, changes which are occurring in the distribution of owner occupiers and council tenants. It is argued that there is a growing social and spatial polarisation between the two main tenures at the intraurban level; some evidence from London is presented to support this.