This chapter assesses the way that households pay for their housing. In line with the pathways framework, the emphasis is both on the discourses and related institutions that structure opportunities and on the behaviour of households. The interaction between households and the institutional structure is examined in particular through the experience of households that encounter problems in meeting housing payments.

Institutional structures have been socially constructed in order to enable households to pay for housing. Payments can be a large proportion of a household's expenditure as housing can be a costly and relatively large item of consumption. These institutional structures are organised on the basis of housing tenures, which impose on households different rights and obligations and different types and sizes of financial payments. The institutional structures are based on the need for tenants to make rental payments or for owner occupiers to fund purchase usually through borrowing on a loan or mortgage. Government in Britain has been heavily involved in the construction of these institutional structures and has subsidised housing payments. The justification for this intervention has varied over time and been the subject of political debate and conflict, but a common element is the belief that housing is a basic requirement that all households should be able to enjoy. Given the high cost of housing, some households may not be able to acquire the use of what is perceived to be an appropriate standard of accommodation without government financial support. This support has been given primarily in the form of housingspecific grants or allowances rather than general income supplements in order to ensure that it is spent on housing rather than other commodities.

In addition, it has been recognised that housing, because of its location, is a means to enable access to a wide range of public and private resources. The ability to purchase high-quality housing by paying a high price can lead to advantages in accessing other opportunities such as well-paid employment and ‘positional goods’ such as good schooling or a pleasant environment. Conversely, those households that can afford to live only in low-price, unpopular neighbourhoods may find themselves at a disadvantage in attempting to gain employment or to access positional goods.