Long Term Leasing

Long term leasing is a widely used model on the continent . Maybe some of our members here can fill me in more but Im surprised the idea never took off here. Is Irish obsession with owning a property because of the English denying it to us? Was Dev afraid of the Commies taking over and put property ownership into the constitution as a result? The only place I have seen long term leasing has been in the County Council and social housing but nothing in the private market. Would a model where peope can take out a twenty or thirty year lease not be a lot better than the current system which advocates house ownership? Any thoughts on it?