A no-nonsense ‘boomer’ is being slammed after he suggested Aussie tenants need to ‘make a few sacrifices’ instead of complaining about the cost of rent.
The Melbourne homeowner named Malcolm responded to a woman named Melissa who came across a property that was ‘unliveable’ while looking for a home for her family.
Malcolm told ABC radio Melbourne’s Drive host Dr Bridie O’Donnell that tenants should make lifestyle sacrifices instead of complaining ‘all the time’ about rent.
The homeowner said he felt ‘sorry for the lady’ but suggested renters stop eating out, buying takeaway, going on holidays and even give up their pets if they want their own home.
The comment struck a chord among struggling Aussies with rents rising drastically as the availability of accommodation around the country becomes scarce.
The homeowner, named Malcolm, suggested renters stop eating out, buying takeaway, going on holidays and even give up their pets if they want their own home (stock image)
The queue to inspect the unit located in Flemington, in Melbourne’s inner north-west, snaked from the building carport and spilled onto the street
‘I feel sorry for the lady, obviously… but these people that are complaining all the time about rent being too dear and so forth, yeah, fair enough,’ Malcolm said.
‘But why don’t they make a few sacrifices?
‘Have they got dogs? Have they got cats? Do they go out to dinner? Do they buy takeaway all the time? Do they have to go over to Bali for a holiday?
‘You just gotta make a few sacrifices but whether they’re prepared to or not I don’t know. People will be upset with me saying that but that’s the bottom line.’
Malcolm added is a country full of opportunity to work and build a life and even explained how he worked tirelessly for years to build his own home.
‘I built mine while I was an apprentice. I remember I dug the foundations by hand, I wheelbarrowed all the fill in underneath,’ he said.
‘I worked on that house and a lady used to walk past and she said to us 10 years later “if a person ever deserves a house, that person does”.
‘We’re very lucky in . If you want to work you can get somewhere, you can build your life.
‘But in countries like Morocco, Egypt, Jordan and all them countries over there, they don’t have the opportunity that we’ve got in .’
Tenants’ rights activist and founder of s**trentals.org Jordie van den Berg slammed Malcolm for his comments.
The Melbourne homeowner said tenants should think about things they can sacrifice instead of complaining about the high price of rent (stock image, view of a Melbourne suburban street)
The activist, who is also a lawyer, explained an Aussie working as an apprentice would not be able to build their own home, despite Malcolm’s claims.
‘You’ve got people like the previous caller, I believe his name is Malcolm, was an apprentice and built his house when houses cost 30 cents and a high five,’ he said.
‘Try finding an apprentice today who can do that? You can’t. It doesn’t happen.
‘You’ve got this massive cognitive dissonance that’s occurring where It’s the reality of renters today but it wasn’t the reality of renters 20 years ago.’
Social media users also slammed Malcolm for his outdated views, with many labelling him a ‘boomer’.
‘Boomers talking about how I built my house when I was an apprentice. Mate, people on 6 figures struggle to get into the market these day,’ one person wrote.
‘When are boomers going to ever understand that housing was significantly cheaper when they were younger. To think a first year apprentice today who earns a whopping 14 bucks an hour can afford a house,’ another commented.
‘Get rid of your pets’ is an interesting variation on the smashed avo hypothesis of home ownership,’ a third chimed.
A fourth joked: ‘Malcolm will be telling us to give up your children next so clearly out of touch’.
It comes after astonishing images showed ‘s shocking rental crisis, with dozens of potential tenants queued down the street to inspect a unit.
A two-bedroom unit for lease in Flemington in Melbourne’s inner north-west attracted a massive crowd at a recent open inspection.
The massive crowd of prospective tenants queued to view the property which is located in the Melbourne CBD and had a listed rent price of $370 per week
The apartment comprises of two good sized bedrooms with built in wardrobes, light-filled lounge, meals area and kitchen
Footage posted by a prospective renter on social media showed the lengthy queue, which snaked from the undercover carport and spilled onto the street for several hundred metres along the footpath.
Vacancy rates for residential properties across rose to 1.1 per cent in November to 33,471 properties nationwide, according SQM Research.
The vacancy rate rose in Sydney CBD to 4.6 per cent, while Melbourne and Brisbane also witnessed an increase with 5.1 per cent and 2.2 per cent, respectively.
In the 30 days leading up to December 12, last year, asking rents in capital cities increased by 0.3 per cent, contributing to a notable 14.7 per cent rise.
House rents in capital cities rose by 0.6 per cent, with a 12-month increase of 14.9 per cent, while unit rents showed a 14.4 per cent rise over the year.
The national median weekly asking rent for all dwellings in capital cities was $692.74, with rent for capital city houses costing $803 a week and $596 a week for units.
Head of Property and Business Analytics at SQM Research Harry Bawa said while there was more vacancies nationwide the market remained ‘tight’ for renters.
‘Market conditions for renters remain tight and competitive, and we see no signs of that changing without more housing supply,’ Mr Bawa said.