I don't think this is a political post but please feel free to remove if you wish Randa. (Mind, I know you'd remove it whether I gave you permission or not )

This morning we received an estate agents 'flyer' through the mail and it got me thinking.

I got onto Rightmove and fed in the town where the agent resides and looked up the houses for sale within 5 miles. There were 1300 in total of which 274 (21%) were brand new. That seemed to me an enormous number of new houses, given that the building industry is supposed to be in recession.

So I looked at the figures a bit more closely.

2 beds for sale 275 - brand new 14 (5%)
3 beds for sale 433 - brand new 64 (15%)
4 beds for sale 355 - brand new 144 (41%)
5 beds for sale 121 - brand new 40 (40%)

So rather than build starter or downsizing homes to free up existing family homes the developers just keep churning out more family homes.

Looked at even closer our own house sits in a price band and is a 4 bed detached. There were 80 such houses for sale within the area and 50 (63%) were new build. The effect of that massive supply of new builds is to reduce the demand for our property and reduce any price we hope to achieve.

Our aim is to downsize to a bungalow, driven by age, infirmity and pension.

So, how many 3 bed detached bungalows are for sale in that same area, in that same price range? Just 5. How many new builds? A big fat ZERO.

And those bungalows are, on average 40% smaller than our house, for roughly the same price. The shortage of bungalows and the high demand driving prices skyward.

All this means that whilst we'd love to move to a smaller place and free up our house for a family, we can't because our house value is being pegged back by over supply whilst the property we aspire to is rapidly increasing in cost.

In our close of 27 4 bed detached houses with a primary school at its entrance there are 20 occupied by retired couples or singles. Only three have children of school age living in them, one has adult children, two others have babies and one is a childless couple of working age. Not all the 20 want to downsize and free up their houses for families but 50% would like to but there's nowhere sensible to go to.

There is a bungalow, 3bed, garage 85K euros near us?? 15 years old

That'll do Bryn and I could afford ten new Trolls with the change.

Any details?

Downsizing ought to mean fewer rooms but all those we look at also have smaller rooms!

In our current and previous house we have/had a utility room about 9m2 and they've been brilliant. Average utes seem to be about 4m2 and not big enough to house the laundry gubbins etc AND two bearded collies. Trying to find a bungalow with such a room is probably impossible.

Our main bedroom is 20m2 and a bit too big if truth be know but most bungalows we see the main bedroom is about 15m2 which is OK.

Our dining room has Mrs SDA's baby grand in it and is 18m2. It's used for singing lessons, among other things. Most bungalows don't have a separate dining room and those that do you couldn't fit the piano and table and chairs in.

The study is 11m2 and crammed full of Mrs SDA's choir stuff, plus five suitcases (one for each choir) as well as a desk each.

We have found one or two bungs that would suit but there've always been outstanding issues that stop matters progressing.