Tiny house

I recently clicked on a housing project I saw on social media.

I wish I hadn't.

My email inbox, my WhatsApp, and my other social media networks have been flooded.

Blocking them is endless.

They keep calling.

They talk about prices, or in-house financing.

I tell them I can't afford it, but they don't listen.

My wife and I earn just enough to cover our food; we can barely afford chicken for protein in our kitchen.

Olives and cheese are now a dream.

Just like in the 1970s, we can only afford to eat boiled potatoes and sautéed onions.

Our bread waste has dropped to zero.

We soak and heat up the leftover bread to eat it.

I tell them how could we possibly buy a house, yet they still won't be convinced.

Then, the data from the Statistical Institute came across my desk.

The homeownership rate has dropped significantly and is still falling.

However, in terms of living space, homes have not yet shrunk to the desired extent.

Despite our warnings for years, contractors insisted on large housing projects, and as a result, the built units remained unsold.

Looking at title deed records, housing purchases have dropped dramatically. The ones that are selling are the apartments of contractors who listened to us and built smaller units.

Recently, 3 friends got together and bought apartments priced at 7 million for half the price.

In other words, they paid 10.5 million instead of 21 million for 3 apartments.

Just as I was about to feel sorry for the contractor, he thanked them so profusely that they were surprised.

Following the cutoff of bank loans, it seems he used this 10.5 million to pay off his debts.

He was saved from disgrace.

“You wouldn't believe the prayers he offered,” my friends say.

In short,

According to TÜİK, although the homeownership rate in the country is on a downward trend, it is still around 58 percent.

That is not a small rate, but most of them are not earthquake-resistant.

So, there is no point in looking at the rate and rejoicing at how high it is.

At the slightest tremor, these houses will also be “shattered to pieces.”

On the other hand, the age of homeowners is quite high.

In other words, the middle-aged and younger generations do not own homes.

They don't even have a dream of buying a home.

Following the February 6 Great Earthquake Disaster, the redirection of all resources to the earthquake zone weakened the state's economic power and its capacity to build housing.

After 30 years of both theoretical and practical work in academia and the experience I have gained,

Let me propose a model so I don't get scolded for “writing about the problem but not the solution.”

Under the leadership, supervision, control, and full guarantee of municipalities, COOPERATIVES to be established on MUNICIPAL LANDS should produce cheap, modular, and small housing using modern production techniques.

These homes should be produced only for the middle class, those who do not own a home, those who have just started life, and young couples who are part of the production force.

In the meantime, to reduce the housing problem within the next 5 years, the public should build “temporary guesthouses,” now called “tiny houses,” in areas close to the center where the infrastructure is provided by the state.

If there is another solution, write to me so I can know about it too.