The link to owner occupation relates not only pragmatically to the availability of space, but also to the idea of home ownership as an achievement and a sign of success (Gurney, 1996, 1999a, 1999c). At one level, it is simply more difficult to accommodate guests in a rented house. If the home is rented from a local authority or housing association, the tenant will have met criteria based on housing need including having too low an income to buy a house. Typically the property will usually be allocated a home that only just has sufficient bedrooms for the members of the household. A visit is therefore inconvenient, as it requires someone to move from their bedroom or a living room to be temporarily converted. Only close kin and very close friends would be worth such disruption, and the event may have more of the characteristics of a put-up than a visit.

For those in privately rented accommodation this tenure is more likely to be a temporary arrangement, used by those in the early stages of their housing career, those between owner occupied homes or between relationships. In both of these cases the scope for creating an impression by displaying the occupier s taste in furnishings is severely diminished. If the occupier requires housing benefit this will not cover the cost of a spare room, and even for those paying their own rent the tenure is seen as offering poor value for money and few will choose to rent...