After a discussion I had today, it seems housing is underutilized. To address this, I wanted to propose the following.

-Allow players to buy a personal housing plot (a la FFXI). This could be private or could allow people to be invited on to the property. The personal house has a set, fixed cost for entry per subscribed account to ensure the storage space is paid for. Increasing plot and house size could be expensive as needed.

-A free company can also purchase a plot of a certain size for their communal use. A free company or group of players could then purchase a ward. Their houses can move onto the ward and are accessible by everyone (and get some special perks).

This way, housing will still be a large personal gil sink while solving current supply problems. It should not need a large amount of additional programming, and I think it would help with long-term player retention.