In Ireland, politicians (make appearances of) are making a lot of noise about building more houses to address the severe shortage of housing supply (and consequent runaway house price inflation). However, my take is that the root of the problem is exactly what the author here describes, to wit, the minimum housing a person can buy is (for the most part) a semi-detached two- or two-and-a-half-bedroom* house on two floors. There are precious few one-bedroom apartments or anything similar on the market, meaning that single persons entering the market are competing with couples or young families.
I don't understand the details but I'm told the origin of this is that regulations have rendered apartments of any size unprofitable to build (anyone with more insight here?). Pretty much the only housing Ireland gets are sprawling suburban housing estates. I'm reminded of this graphic, 100 houses Vs 100 apartments [1].
* By 2½ bedrooms I mean two bedrooms plus a very small "box room" barely big enough for a single bed and a small wardrobe. Frequently used as either a storage room or small home office.
I don't understand the details but I'm told the origin of this is that regulations have rendered apartments of any size unprofitable to build (anyone with more insight here?). Pretty much the only housing Ireland gets are sprawling suburban housing estates. I'm reminded of this graphic, 100 houses Vs 100 apartments [1].
* By 2½ bedrooms I mean two bedrooms plus a very small "box room" barely big enough for a single bed and a small wardrobe. Frequently used as either a storage room or small home office.
[1] https://i.pinimg.com/originals/78/f5/94/78f594ebb9216e50e396...