Environment and Planning A ; 1984, volume 16, pages 1163-1180 Commodification and housing: emerging issues and contradictions f R Forrest School for Advanced Urban Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TH, England P Williams Institute of Housing, 12 Upper Belgrave Street, London SW1X 8BA, England Received 19 October 1983 Abstract. In this paper, we attempt to relate debates around the commodification process, that is, the ways in which commodity relations develop and are expressed both in daily life and in the organisation of society, with respect to housing provision. We begin with a brief review of the underlying theoretical argument and then proceed to examine a number of housing-related spheres. We conclude that, although the concept of commodification suffers from overly economistic applications, an understanding of this process provides an important element in explaining changing social relations. Introduction We are concerned in this paper with the changing nature of social relations under capitalism. The continuous development of the relations both of production and of consumption necessitates constant reevaluation of any particular phenomenon in relation to specific social formations. In this paper we explore the nature and consequences of certain changing forms of housing provision in Britain. Specifically, our intention is to examine the role of homeownership as a major tenure form in the light of pressures to enhance market processes and to give increased assistance to production and accumulation. We are thus concerned with current debates related to recapitalisation and recommodification (for example, Esping-Andersen et al, 1975; Harloe, 1981; Miller, 1977; 1978) which provide a perspective for analysing changes in levels and directions of state activity as well as more general forms of reorientation occurring within a capitalist economy. In the housing sphere in Britain, direct state provision of housing (public housing) is being curtailed and the existing stock of dwellings offered for sale to tenants. This erosion of public housing and the continued promotion of homeownership, set within the context of substantial economic decline and class tension, provides the empirical background for this paper. We begin with a brief introduction of the main theoretical arguments which under- lie the analysis. Having sketched out the conceptual framework we then consider the consumption of housing and, more specifically, commodity relations with respect to homeownership. Finally, in the conclusion, we offer a number of speculative thoughts regarding future forms of housing provision in Britain. f This paper began to take shape about five years ago. An initial and much shorter version was produced as a working paper (Forrest and Williams, 1980), after which the intention was to modify the original, in the light of criticism and comments received, and to publish more widely. Since then the paper has been redrafted several times. It has been presented in various forms at a number of conferences and seminars. It has provided the basis for research proposals and has been the starting point for several other papers. The process of commodification remains a central and increasingly dominant theme in the literature on the sociology and political economy of contemporary capitalism (for example, see Giddens, 1982). Though we have amended various of the original statements in the light of events and discussions over the last few years, we are confident that the central propositions remain important and relevant to current debates. This version, however, still represents work in progress.