My house earns more than I do, and has done so every year since we bought it: nice for me, but less so for my children, and horrible for the vast majority of their generation, who made the terrible mistake of being born to parents who don’t own property in southeastern England.

The housing crisis doesn’t just throttle labour mobility; it crimps lives. People start families later than they want, commute longer distances and live in crowded conditions.

This stokes a smouldering generational resentment. Change will be slow and painful. But failing to do so risks social upheaval. People yearn to own their own homes. Why shouldn’t they? It chimes with the natural human nesting instinct. Our homes are not just bricks and mortar, they