The bar chart shows the percentage of households in England and Wales that lived in owned and rented homes from 1918 to 2011.
Overall, renting was much more common in the early years, but owning a home became more popular over time. In 1970 two were equal, and ownership stayed higher until the end of the period, renting rose again after 2001.
In 1918, about 77% of households lived in rented homes, while only around 22% owned their houses. This was similar until 1953, when ownership increased. From 1961, the number of people owning homes grew more quickly. By 1971, both owning and renting were at the same level, around 50%. After this, ownership continued to rise and reached a peak of about 70% in 2001, while renting fall over 30%. By 2011, however, ownership dropped a little to around 65%, and renting went up again to about 36%.