Full Story The Sunday read: Fiona Wright on waiting for your parents to die to own a home
Feb 21, 2026
Fiona Wright, writer and critic known for essays on culture and social issues, narrates a piece about housing and inheritance. She explores the dark joke that millennials must wait for parents to die to own homes. She discusses housing as an investment, rising rent pressure and unstable tenancies, and the moral cost of relying on intergenerational wealth.
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Housing Treated As Wealth, Not A Right
- Housing in Australia functions primarily as a wealth-accumulation asset rather than a basic human right.
- This structural shift has concentrated wealth in property and made ownership increasingly unattainable for younger generations.
Frequent Moves And A Dark Family Joke
- Fiona describes moving nine times in 14 years and rarely by choice due to insecure renting.
- She and many peers feel powerless and joke that they must wait for parents to die to inherit property.
Parents Built A Home That Became An Asset
- Fiona Wright recounts her parents building a suburban home after their first child was born.
- Their house became a valuable asset over decades due to economic conditions and public policy shifts.