I understand the frustration by the OP and others. Bigger picture... if you want access to a house, join an FC. By the end of this, most (not all) FCs will have a house.

If your own personal house is a deal breaker, play another game. So far, it doesn't seem personal housing is a deal breaker, hence why SE continues down the path they are going down. If the bottom line gets hurt by the lack of personal housing, money talks. They'd go and do something about it.

Keep in mind that low supply housing is a huge money maker for SE. 70 servers. About 7200 plots per server results in roughly 500,000 plots across all servers. While there are some players with multiple houses on one account, for the most part, each homeowner equates to a guaranteed sub. Every month. No one wants to risk losing their house. 500,000 x $15/mo x 12 months = $90M/year income just in subs due to housing. If the finances continue working out, then I expect house supply will remain low.