Stop complaining. You wanted this.

[Divinemights]

If they hadn't opened the mostly empty wards to personal purchase, things would have gone the way they already have - players creating shells FCs for the purpose of gaining access to a house and we would have ended up with 80% personal houses coated by a very thin veneer of FC.

The mistake was not planning for personal housing in the first place and then adding it in as an afterthought. All they needed to do was look to the other games with housing to see what players really want. Free companies (guilds/clans/fellowships/whatever the game calls their organized social groups) of course want a place for their members to be able to meet but always the demand for personal housing is much higher. It's a RPG - players appreciate their characters having a place to call home especially when most of the game play has them wandering around like vagabonds.

TLDR: I do not want to hear anything about Balmung because it is an unique problem that only exist in Balumng (get off this over crowded server for your own sake if you want a house)

Unfortunately, I do not agree with you on this as you tend to shift all blames on SE when we as players also contribute to this issue.
For a fact, majority of players do not care about Housing because decoration is not everyone cup of tea.
FF14's original plan for player housing is always FF11's Mog room style of sandbox but with more customize functions; therefore, Private Chamber is introduced at patch 2.3 (before Personal Housing Ward)
Private Chamber is also an attempt from SE to stimulate players to form FC and occupy remaining empty housing plot but it only proves the fact majority of players do not care about personal housing (even it is instanced).
Only small fraction of players cares and actually spend time and effort with Private Chamber.
I have paid visit to pretty much all house wards on Leviathan when I need inspiration to decorate my house/apartment/private chamber.
I can tell you for fact, that only few FC members actually obtained a Private Chamber in these FC occupied House.

Ward Housing only becomes popular after players recognized it as a finite resource, in another word, exclusivity.
Our nature shows no resistance towards the idea of exclusivity and that is the only main reason people feels the urge that they need a house but often left it undecorated after they obtained one.
Apartment as remedy did not work only because it is not "exclusive" and anyone can get one when they want; therefore it is lack of attraction.

Their major mistake is nevertheless that they opened this can of worms same way they did to Viera and Hrothgar (they shouldn't be playable race to begin with)
Only a game in downfall need these pointless attraction such as playable race every expansion.
Although to be honest, I think this game is not dong well at patch 2.2 and it didn't get a boost until Heavensward