Cameron's doublethink on debt

From David Cameron's speech to the consevative party conference 2011:

"The answer is straightforward, but uncomfortable. This was no normal recession; we’re in a debt crisis. It was caused by too much borrowing, by individuals, businesses, banks, and most of all, governments. When you’re in a debt crisis, some of the normal things that government can do, to deal with a normal recession, like borrowing to cut taxes or increase spending - these things won’t work because they lead to more debt, which would make the crisis worse. "


The message is pretty clear: Debt is bad. Even if we want do productive things like cutting taxes with big dead-weight costs or building infrastructure to reduce barriers to private investment, more debt will make things worse.

But wait, what's this bit further on:

"The failure of the housing market is bound up in the debt crisis. Because lenders won’t lend, builders won’t build and buyers can’t buy. "

So the problem is that there isn't enough debt being taken on by homebuyers.  Debt to fund a house purchase clearly effects the younger end of the productive element of society most, since they typically don't start out with a stake in property. So it appears that debt is bad unless it is taken on by young people to buy what is an unproductive asset but, as a shelter, a fundamental human need. In this case, more debt is supposedly part of the solution to the "debt crisis".