The presented bar chart illustrates the proprotion of citizens in England and Wales either owning or renting their houses over a period from 1918 to 2011.
Overall, what stands out from the graph is that the percentages for those rented a house declined gradually over the period in question, whereas the figures for owners witnessed an opposite scenario.
Looking at the details, house owners contributed to above a fifth in 1918, which was accompanied by a nearly 77% of households who preferred renting. Over the next five decades, there was a downward trend in rented accommodation, except for some fluctuations, until the figures reached exactly the half in 1971, together with the exact same percentage for home owners. In other words, 1971 is the year when the gap was closed and the proportion of owned houses surpassed the rented counterparts.
If we consider the last five decades, from 1971 to 2011, the percentages of owners overtook those for rented accommodation for all the remaining years, which exhibited the same trends before 1971. Expect for 2011, rented houses and owned ones stood at one-third and two-thirds respectively, unlike the previous trend.