This chapter focuses on a key theme of the book which is the importance, for housing research and policy, of the meanings attached to houses. It is argued that meanings exist at many levels. Individual households hold meanings towards their houses, but these are influenced by wider meaning structures associated with discourses of family, home, and tenure. Also, it is argued that meanings towards a house will be associated with other aspects of living and lifestyle.

House and home are two key concepts in the analysis of housing pathways. It was argued in Chapter One that many analytical approaches tend to treat houses as ‘units of accommodation’ that can be described by a number of ‘objective’ physical attributes such as size, amenities, repair condition or form (that is, detached house or flat). Much government housing policy is concerned with laying down physical standards for houses, which is usually justified either on the grounds of safeguarding the stock for future generations or as a public health measure. These standards can also be used as measures of the quality of the housing stock and targets set to meet goals for improvement. A house provides physical shelter for households and can be seen as a ‘machine for living in’. Indeed, this is the way that it is perceived by many academics, policy makers and professionals solely concerned with the physical fabric of the dwelling. But a house is far more than this, as it is the setting or locale for certain social practices that we may call ‘home life’. It is the setting for some of our most important, emotional and intimate relations and behaviour. But it is not a neutral setting. A house carries meanings that arise out of, and in turn influence the use of, the physical structure. As Arias (1993, p 1) argues: