Britain's politicians entered full crisis mode this week when it became clear the housing market was teetering on the brink of a protracted decline in prices. On Tuesday, the publication of a highly unreliable statistic, showing house prices fell by 2.5 per cent in March alone, shocked the nation and prompted Gordon Brown, the prime minister, to take to the airwaves with a message of reassurance. The underlying trend is less dramatic but has been clear for months.

To seasoned observers of Britain - or more accurately England, where a man's home is said to be his castle - the latest shift in mood is just another example of its obsession with housing. Ever since Margaret Thatcher embarked on creating a "property-owning democracy" in the 1980s, people have believed it is their right to own a home.