Real Money , a free weekly newsletter giving expert tips on how to save, invest and make the most of your money, is sent every Sunday. You’re reading an excerpt − sign up to get the whole newsletter in your inbox.

Houses! Those who don’t have them, want them, and those who do have them want them to increase in value. Owning one is the great Australian dream, and their ever-increasing prices dominate backyard discussions of the young and old(ish), as long as no one ever stops to think about how fundamentally broken the whole system is.

In an effort to make the system slightly less terrible, last week the government significantly expanded its First Home Guarantee scheme which allows first home buyers to purchase with just a 5 per cent deposit, without needing to fork out for costly Len

See Full Page