I want a 3 bed house because some time soon I'll probably need to have kids, else my partner be too old to conceive. I work from home most days, so a 3rd room would be nice for an office or if we want a 2nd child. We will likely make do with a 2 bed flat (still 200k if we're lucky in the arse end of nowhere - 250k in a place we'd actually enjoy living). I don't know any of my older colleagues or family that had to settle for that; again, following the same career path or worse. My parents managed a 3 bed house on the South coast on a nurse and chef salary. That would be functionally impossible today.