Instead, if we truly believe that freedom and options are to be valued, yet can't fight against our primeval need to own bricks and mortar, then perhaps we should consider an alternative to owning our own home which can give you all three things: freedom, options plus house ownership. Currently, the federal Labor party are suggesting that this option be removed for existing houses, but if the laws remain unchanged, this can still be a viable alternative which allows you to have your cake and eat it too.

So if you crave freedom and options but are fighting against the need to put down roots and buy your own home, here are a few reasons why you might consider an alternative.

1.Negative Gearing. The current tax law allows you to claim the shortfall between interest, expenses and income earned on a rental property on your tax return. This essentially means that the refund (or tax saving) received is reducing the cost of ownership. If you buy your own home, none of these costs are deductible and unless you take in a boarder, there's no-one helping you pay the rent.

2.Spreading the risk. Our home is often our most valuable single asset which for many of us, means that most of our wealth is tied up in it. The problem arises when the size of our mortgage means the ability to diversify our risk is diminished. We simply can't afford to invest in other assets such as investment properties, shares or paying extra into super because, thanks to a seven-figure mortgage, the price of living is too high. Instead of sinking all our funds (and available borrowings) into one large mortgage, it may make more sense to buy a couple of cheaper investments across different suburbs or different asset classes and therefore spread the risk.

3.Liquefying our assets on retirement. If we're living in our most valuable asset, it can be emotionally difficult to have to move out of it in order to access the equity upon retirement or if we can no longer afford to hold it. By choosing to rent we can potentially downsize when we reach retirement without having to sell assets which may not be in our best financial interest to realise the gains from at that particular point in time.