There has been a marked increased in home ownership over the last 30 years. About a half of all households were owner occupiers in 1971. This proportion increased to about two thirds by the late 1980s since when the increase has levelled off and, in 2001, 68% of households were owner occupiers. There was a corresponding decline in the 1980s in the proportion of households living in social housing, from about a third to about a quarter of all households. These opposing trends are partly attributable to the ‘Right to buy’ legislation in the early 1980s. The downward trend in the number of council tenants continued during the 1990s as council properties in some areas were transferred to housing associations (now more correctly described as ‘Registered Social Landlords’ or ‘RSLs’). Thus, between 1989 and 2001, the proportion of council tenants decreased from 24% to 15% while the proportion renting from a housing association rose from 2% to 6% .