Mass access to private home ownership is a key phenomenon that has deeply marked the history of contemporary Italy, although it remains one of the least investigated aspects in historiography. This article aims to help fill this gap by analyzing the origins of the process by which Italy became one of the countries with the highest rate of owner-occupiers in Western Europe. It argues that a decisive role has been played by housing and construction policies aimed at encouraging and supporting owner-occupancy. The postwar years were crucial from this point of view, since some of the fundamental pieces that would make up the mosaic of Italy as a country of owner-occupiers were then laid down. This article examines
the programmatic positions of parties and the political debate in the Constituent Assembly and in parliamentary discussions on fundamental acts such as the Ina Casa plan and the Tupini and Aldisio laws for building development.