“Oh, what is to become of us all?” says Mrs Bennet in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Two hundred years on, Adrian Thompson of estate agent Foxwood Maclean looks at how our dreams and aspirations about owning property may have changed.

To paraphrase the famous line in Pride and Prejudice, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single family in possession of a good mortgage must be in want of a house”.

Jane Austen knew a thing or two about property, or at least the importance of owning it. She would have understood about financing a property purchase through a mortgage as her life coincided with the advent of the building society movement.

The desire to house oneself comfortably seems largely unaltered since her time.

But two things have changed. Residential property no longer just demonstrates wealth but creates it, making it even more desirable. Also, the de-mutualisation of the building societies and their takeover by banks is threatening the way we think about owning property. For the first time in 200 years it may only be the already well off who can realistically afford to buy property.

Building societies were created to allow their members to buy property. Banks were created to make money for their shareholders. Building societies were prudent and fiscally responsible. Banks clearly haven’t been. To get out of trouble the banks now seem prejudiced against the very people the building societies were formed to assist.

Jane Austen could have written a book about it.

FoxWood Maclean has offices at Wye and Edenbridge. Contact Adrian Thompson on athompson@foxwoodmaclean.co.uk or phone 01233 812060.