Empty FC Wards

[Rilifane]

At the same time, most of the FC members also do not realy have any access to the house in regards to interaction. Its usualy just a few members that decide the layout, effectively being tenants on that. Of your 46k mebers, i suspect at most 4.6k members could actualy do something. Most members there are just inflating numbers and can use the house at best for a teleport discount.

And i do not consider stable usage as a part of that! Appartments also provide that capability, so its not FC unique.

This is exactly what bugs me when people say "But if your FC has a house, you have a house! An FC house means 100 people can use a house!".
No, they can't.
They can teleport to it, they have a stable and maybe they're even allowed to water plants. And that's it. FC house design was always up to a selected 1-2 people in every FC I've been in, everyone else could only teleport, clean the stable/ train chocobos and sometimes water/ fertilize the garden. And if your FC had terrible taste, you were stuck with being able to relax in a gaudy house. What a privilege. Company Chest, Sub/ Airhsip, FC projects and maybe Wheelstand management was also either done by the FC leader or a selected officer.

The main reason people ask for their own house is being able to decorate it to their liking and gardening.
FFXIV often appeals to people that have a creative streak so being able to decorate is a huge appeal for them. Apartments are basically Harry Potter cupboards and you can't float furniture through the basement or close it off for more items on the main floor, which greatly limits the design choices. An apartment is not "half of a small house" as some people claim. It's much less than that.
And gardening/ farming has always been a popular minigame for many people even if it's just watering daily. The process of growing resources yourself is quite appealing and it's the reason why Island Sanctuary may offer that without needing a house.