I CAN remember when it was the great Australian dream to own your quarter-acre block, with attached garage, backyard vegie patch and enough bedrooms for the 2.2 kids (more if you heed pied piper Peter Costello’s call for a greater economy, er, I mean, population).

Then, as governments refused to release more land for development yet eagerly accepted more babies and migrants, available properties became scarcer and prices jumped through the roof.

High interest rates forced borrowers’ backs against the walls in meeting replayments, even without factoring in the increasing costs of living.

For many, the only option was to rent one of the thousands of units that had popped up all over Sydney, or go back home to mum and dad. And it wasn’t just singles forced out of their independent living arrangements; young families were also shepherded into the competitive rental market.

But now its full too, allowing landlords to jack up rents and rule their tennants with an iron fist. They can also be selective on who they let through their investment property doors (see story on page 5).

I suppose they, too, have to meet the rising costs of living, but they have played their part in the fact that many people are waking up to find themselves living in the great Australian nightmare!

So, what to do? Council candidates have come up with an array of answers (see our election liftout on pages 23-26), but I believe the problem is partly due to wealthy people building real estate empires, thus freezing thousands out of the market.

If we limited the number of investment properties owned by one person, that means more for the market and, surely, a drop in prices.

Or am I just a young Australian dreaming?