''We are not arguing that renters should get lots of government subsidies, but we were just really struck by the level of support for owners, given that there are so many reasons for these people to own their own houses anyway,'' Ms Kelly said. ''It's hard to see why they need that level of subsidy.''

Home owners enjoy an exemption from capital gains tax, an exemption from the land tax faced by landlords, special treatment in applying the pension assets test and an exemption from tax for what is known as imputed rent.

''If a landlord is renting out a place, the landlord pays tax on that rental income,'' she said. ''Homeowners enjoy the same sort of benefit. It's as if they pay themselves rent. But they are not taxed on it.

''We are certainly not recommending that we start to tax those imputed rents, there are very few countries in the world that do that, but the size of that support should be recognised when it comes to calculating how the government skews the housing market.''