"He now owes more on the house than

the house is worth," is something I overheard recently. This morning's paper confirms that was almost certainly true.

The 5% deposit scheme dreamed up by the present government is not working. It was never likely to work, especially if house prices were associated with such schemes. 

No, I do not pretend to understand the economics. It just seems to me if you introduce a scheme which allows people to borrow money to buy a home with only 5% of the deposit then you will get more people involved than if you ask for a 10% deposit.

I went to see Youngest Nephew yesterday. He has recently moved back to this state and is now living not too far away. He is buying the place he is living in. His father, my BIL, has insisted his two sons need to own their own homes. Neither place is palatial or even particularly convenient but they are likely good investments for their long term security. They are not intended to be anything else. The repayments are undoubtedly a worry but they can manage them. 

Neither place is a single unit three bedroom dwelling on a block of land surrounded by a landscaped garden. They do not need it. They might like to have something like that but they do not need it. Middle Cat is concerned that one place has stairs but she is looking long into the future. I suspect it will not be a problem. Youngest Nephew will move out to a more accessible dwelling at some point. For now he is prepared to have what he can afford.

Is that part of the problem? A Dutch migrant friend recently said, "In Holland a bedroom has the bed and not much else. The room is much smaller." 

Yes, the bedroom there has what it needs - the bed. Here the bed will be surrounded by space. Space costs money when it is associated with housing. Unless you are using a wheelchair do you really need a wide walkway around the bed? 

The place I now live in is a generous size for one person and I still have more belongings than I actually need. That said I do not live in a three or more bedrooms house with a garden right around me. Would it be nice? Of course it would be good to have the space but I do not need it. It would be a costly responsibility in terms of both time and money. 

It is things like this which make me wonder if the "housing crisis" might be of much less concern if people were allowed to need less, especially less to begin their housing journey.  Not everyone wants a three bedroom house on a quarter acre block but are they being told this is what they need? Is that contributing to the problem?