Boomers hit back at 'self-entitled whingeing' young Aussies - and reveal why they're not to blame for housing crisis

Angry baby boomers have hit back at young Aussies blaming them for their housing woes. 

Their forthright defence of their right to remain is in response to census date showing empty-nesters are hanging on to their big piles in the inner-suburbs while young families struggle in the outskirts with overcrowding and a rental shortage.

'We bought and paid for these homes; it’s not our job to house the next generations, it’s the government’s,' explained Kathleen Kyle in a letter to the Sydney Morning Herald. 

'Nobody questions people who spend their money on lovely cars or antiques, or suggests that they don’t need them any more.'  

In another letter, Kathy Willis from Kew wrote: 'Boomers have worked very hard to get what they have, having brought up their families in these homes. 

'I suggest the discourse be directed to people such as town planners, local councils and state governments for their lack of vision in the past, and what the present authorities are going to do about it – and of course, the taxpayers’ expense.

Suzanne Hopping from Redfern, Sydney, wrote 'boomer bashing' from 'self-entitled whingeing generations' needs to stop. 

'I can no longer remain silent on the boomer bashing by "self-entitled whingeing generations",' Ms Hopping wrote to the Sydney Morning Herald.  

'I bought my first home when I was 39 in an undesirable suburb. Buying a home (at 17.5 per cent interest) was as difficult then as it is today.'

Ms Hopping explained her family fled Europe during World War II and were given refugee status in Australia, having to live in a tent on a railway when they first arrived. 

She added her migrant parents worked hard to buy land where they built a modest home.  

 'When I left home I had no expectations of ever being able to afford to buy a place of my own. 

'Self-entitled whingeing generations, if you don't like what you see, do something positive about it. Each generation has its unique problems, stop the moralising'. 

Karen Joynes from Bermagui on NSW's south coast, claimed the housing problem was caused by state governments 'pandering to greedy developers'. 

She suggested the problem could be fixed by reducing Australia's massive immigration levels. 

The social, economic and environmental harm brought about by this grossly incompetent “Big Australia” policy can only be rectified by reducing our massive immigration level.

Another said resentment towards boomers should not be encouraged and will not 'free up any housing'. 

'The elephants in the room are negative gearing and immigration - without those there would be more than enough property for people to live in,' Wendy Cousins from Balgownie NSW wrote.

'Why encourage resentment of boomers because many choose to stay in their homes? This will not free up any housing. Many have already downsized and those who haven’t, have a variety of reasons why they don’t. We have enough division in our society without the constant boomer bashing.'

However University of Melbourne Professor Allan Fels, an economist and mental health advocate, said life was much tougher for the younger generation, and figures prove it is much harder for them to buy a house.

'We baby boomers have had it a lot easier than the new generation of young people,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'They face a future of much less home ownership and associated mental health stability.

'The mere fact they are missing out is a cause of stress.

'The trend of rising prices adds to the stress because many used to think that they could buy their own house but they keep missing out because prices are continually rising just beyond their grasp.'

With Sydney's median house price now at $1.403million, an average, full-time worker on $90,917 with a 20 per cent deposit, paying off a $1.123million mortgage, would have a debt-to-income ratio of 12.3.

An individual would be unable to buy an ordinary house without being in mortgage stress unless they earned $187,000, putting them in the top 3.5 per cent of income earners.

Saving up for a 20 per cent mortgage deposit in Sydney now typically takes 13.5 years compared with 11.3 years in Melbourne and 8.8 years in Brisbane, an ANZ-CoreLogic analysis from 2021 showed. 

A generation ago in 1982, when Sydney's median house price was $79,425, an average, full-time worker earning $17,238, paying off a $63,540 mortgage with a 20 per cent deposit had a debt-to-income ratio of 3.7. 

Despite houses being cheap, not everything was better 40 years ago.

The jobless rate hit 9.4 per cent in December 1982 after inflation had peaked at 12.4 per cent, during a prolonged, year-long recession characterised by stagflation - a term describing high unemployment and high inflation occurring at the same time.

Those who bought a house in the early 1980s had to contend with 17 per cent interest rates by 1989 and a recession in 1991 that saw many male, blue collar workers without university degrees retrenched as import tariff barriers were dismantled.