Taking a reality check has become a daily duty for homebuyers. But there are signs that the Government finds the facts just too difficult to face - yet another thing that has to be added to the worry list. This already includes the following: most properties are slipping in value, finance is scarce and the base rate may now be raised to curb inflation which is rocketing up - something else that homebuyers must confront. A reminder is the newspaper graphic depicting the surge in the cost of living through the increase in a price of white sliced bread: up from an average 58p a loaf in 2003 to £1.15 today.

The new concern that borrowing could become more expensive, coupled with banks' disinclination to lend, means that the two-year fix, the super-discount mortgage that fuelled the boom, is fast becoming a luxury item rather than a giveaway: more of a £2.05 pain de campagne than a Kingsmills sliced-white at £1.22. Today, as we report on page 10, the typical two-year fixed rate is 6.75 per cent. In 2006, it was 3.99 per cent. The extra annual cost on a £200,000 loan is £5,844. The borrower must earn £9,740 before tax to fund this burden.

This should surely persuade the Government of the need to show that it understands the problems of the 11.8 million households with a mortgage. But official responses this week indicate that reality checks are not yet the daily medicine in Whitehall. The market in many towns and cities is being depressed by large numbers of new-build properties that simply will not sell. Caroline Flint, the Housing Minister, referred once more to the £200-million fund to buy up such homes, although this will take care of only 1,000 or so of them. Last year 175,000 new dwellings were put up. Curiously - and conveniently for the Government - there are no figures as to how many of these have yet to find a buyer. But evidence from For Sale boards suggests the rescue plan is only a token gesture.

Ms Flint also highlighted, yet again, the £100 million to be directed towards shared equity schemes for first-time buyers. This is also an inadequate amount of support for a limited number of beneficiaries.

The inadequacy of these measures contrasts with Ms Flint's other pronouncements which suggest that - unlike her predecessors - she has a good grasp of the issues facing the housing market. But she needs more concrete help in tackling these problems. The Chancellor should give the go-ahead for a chunky stamp duty concession on properties below £300,000 - which would be a boon for first-time buyers. At the same time, home information packs (Hips) should be shelved, as they are fulfilling none of their aims, such as speeding up transactions.

This week Sir Bryan Carsberg, the former head of the Office of Fair Trading, recommended making Hips voluntary - which would amount to the same thing as the abolition of the scheme. Who would pay £600 for a Hip unless compelled to do so?

Sir Bryan also urged that estate agents be regulated, which reputable operators also want. If Ms Flint opposes such a scheme - which would provide consumer protection and redress - she will stand accused of siding with the criminal minority, rather than representing the interests of homebuyers. It's a no-brainer, a rare thing in these complicated times in property.

Big dreams

For the next three days, the courtyard of Somerset House in London will be a giant living room full of supersized furniture in the opening event of the London Festival of Architecture. It is still to be confirmed what will happen to the pieces after the show but they could represent the interior decor answer to the owner of a gargantuan £10million lateral apartment who is lost in all that terrifying space.

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