OUT OF REACH

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Intro

How we got here

The findings

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An exploration in to how the access economy is changing our relationship with the things we own.

To own

/əʊn/

Have legal rights of possession, control, and disposal over something, including the right to exclude others from using it.

To access

/ˈæksɛs/

Have the ability or permission to use, enter, or retrieve something without necessarily having ownership rights over it.

As culture evolves, so does what it means to own something

At its core, ownership is a series of rights related to an object, idea or place. It's intuitive but deceptively complicated. The definition of ownership, however, changes over time. It carries past narratives that clash with modern contexts.

The deed we sign to transfer ownership of a house, a receipt we forgot about at the bottom of our bag, the terms and conditions we blindly click ‘accept’ to.

SO, WHATS HAPPENING NOW?

Laura Mulcahy, Head of Cultural Insight, led a research project to understand this question. Together, a team of clever minds at TRA explored the cultural redefinition of ownership in 2025.

Black and white portrait of a woman with dark hair pulled back, wearing hoop earrings, a white top, and a dark blazer, smiling slightly against a plain background.

Laura Mulcahy

Head of Culture Practice

What was

Ownership has long been associated with stability, control, and identity. A house, a car, a curated record collection. These weren’t just things we possessed, but cultural markers that shaped who we were and what we aspired to.

What is

Ownership is fragmented. It's increasingly conditional, intangible and elusive.

As big things become more out of reach, we rent, borrow and subscribe. Instead of building collections, we curate online playlists and galleries.

We're moving away from ownership as something tangible and long-term, towards something intangible or temporary. We're increasingly gaining access to what we own through platforms that don’t give us permanence.

Bar chart comparing energy consumption in Megawatt Hour for water cleaning, pumping, and in building from 2019 to 2021.

The uncontrollably intangible

Where tangible items offer us stability and control, the intangible is impermanent. This is the domain of streaming and services. Stuff that requires more of our attention than any other physical possession.

Line chart with three colored lines showing increases and decreases from May to November.

To own something once meant
long-term possession and individual control. But things have changed.

A woman with glasses and a serious expression is superimposed over an aerial view of suburban houses with green dollar signs floating around and text reading 'The Reality of Renting into Retirement.'

The rise of the access economy has evolved our expectations of products, services and sense of ownership.

With home ownership out of reach, we lose touch with permanence.

Possessions evolve into short-term assets to trade and sell.

Platforms give us access to temporary abundance, with little control.

OUT OF REACH

To own

To access

As culture evolves, so does what it means to own something

To own something once meant long-term possession and individual control. But things have changed.

To own something once meant
long-term possession and individual control. But things have changed.