Good question. Over the water??
Ownership, in one form or another, seems to be the key. Whether it's actual freehold or leasehold or renting, if the place doesn't 'belong' to you, more or less permanently, why bother with a lick of paint here or there (some would say)?
My parents bought 'our' house in the right-to-buy in the 80s. But before that it was always 'theirs' even though they paid rent to council for thirty years before hand.
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