Young Aussie reveals reason she is moving home with her parents

A young Aussie has taken aim at landlords in a furious rant, revealing her plans for her 20s have been derailed because of one greedy act.

Gen Zer calls out rental issue. Picture:

It used to be a rite of passage to move out of home in your twenties, but now it is becoming increasingly normal to move back in with your parents.

Gemma Upson-McPike is just about to turn 27, and she’s moving back to suburbia to live with her family because of the surging rental costs.

“I realised that if I kept renting, I would never have any savings. If I stayed at home with my parents for even six months, I could save $10,000,” she told news.com.au.

She’s not alone in this decision. According to comparison website Finder, 1 in 10 Australians has either moved back home with their parents or had their adult child return in the last year.

Ms Upson-McPike used to live in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern, just eight kilometres from the city, but now she has an almost two-hour daily commute.

The young Aussie is currently working part-time, and still earns a decent salary per year, but it isn’t enough to support herself and certainly not after her landlord brutally increased her rent.

She has unleashed about her circumstances on TikTok and her video has already amassed over 25,000 likes and 400,000 views.

“This is not the plan I had for 27-year-old me, but that is how bad the rental crisis is at the moment,” she said.

The young tenant said that when she started paying rent to live on her own, it was $340 per week, then went up to $390 and now her landlord wanted $450.

“I live in a small one-bedroom apartment in an old building. It’s nothing flash,” she said.

Ms Upson-McPike said the place wasn’t fancy, and there were even cracks in the walls, but the landlord was now asking for more than $2000 per month in rent and there was “no way” she could afford it.

She pointed out that she has been an “outstanding” tenant and there had never be any issues, but unfortunately, that didn’t matter.

Young Aussie Gemma Upson-McPike revealed she is moving back home with her parents due to the rental crisis. Picture: TikTok/gemupsonmcpike

Gemma didn’t think she’d move home at this age. Picture: TikTok/gemupsonmcpike

Immediately she started looking for something between $300-$375 but couldn’t find anything. The rental surge meant that she was forced to move back in with her parents and sacrifice her independence to make some financial gains.

“I’m so lucky and so grateful I can move back in with my parents but not everyone do that. What’s the alternative, being homeless?” she asked.

Rent has surged across Australia in the last few years an, according to PropTrack, rent in Melbourne has increased an average of $70 a week.

In some suburbs the median rent has soared beyond that. For instance, in the inner-city suburb of Aberfeldie rent has inflated by 42.86 per cent.

The young Aussie said she was beyond frustrated by her landlord’s greed because she was 99 per cent sure that the owner didn’t have a mortgage on the property because she bought it in the 1980s.

Ms Upson-McPike said, because of this, her landlord couldn’t even use the “excuse” of increased mortgage repayments to justify the huge jump in rent.

“She’s just making money off what she can from the market,” she said

Ms Upson-McPike also said that she knew her landlord owned at least two investment properties. Meanwhile, the young Aussie said she wasn’t able to get a mortgage because of the high rent she had been paying.

“This is why my generation can’t get ahead and why we can’t buy houses,” she said.

She pointed out that, despite proving she has reliably paid $20,000 a year in rent, this fact wouldn’t help her get a loan from the bank to buy a house as she has no savings because she’s been spending all her money on rent and bills.

“I have no savings because of how much I’ve been paying in rent and bills. That is why my parents were like move home and save money, so I can get ahead,” she said.

She is grateful she can move home but noted there were many people who didn’t have that option to fall back on. Picture:Instagram/Gemma Upson-McPike

Gemma works in the fitness industry. Picture:Instagram/Gemma Upson-McPike

Ultimately, Ms Upson-McPike said that she’s so “grateful” she has a family that can support her, but the issue shouldn’t be ignored.

“What do people do? I’m so lucky. The government needs to get on top of this,” she said.

Interestingly, some people online weren’t sympathetic to Ms Upson-McPike’s plight and, instead were quick to point out that she was drinking a takeaway coffee, as if a $5 drink was somehow the reason she couldn’t afford $450 in rent.

“That looks like a nice car you’re in,” one remarked.

“Do you think $20,000 a year is going to pay a mortgage,” someone else said.

“How much is that coffee?” another asked

“Skip the coffee and save for a deposit,” one person advised.

Ms Upson-McPike responded to one comment and said she drives a second-hand 2012 Holden Barina, and the airconditioning doesn’t work.

However, there were many other commenter who sympathised with the young Aussie’s position.

“We are a married couple who earn $190k+ a year together and need to move back in with parents. It’s messed up,” one person said.

“I’m about to turn 31 and I’m at home with my parents trying to scrape together enough money for a deposit on a house. It’s not easy,” another said.

One commenter said they were a 54-year-old renter who was still trying to save for a house deposit.

One added: “I’m 37 … I have a decent wage, I have had to leave my own place and move in with friends cause I can’t afford it and I can’t go back to my parents.”