I'm 'exactly the kind of person who owns a home'. But I don't

OPINION: Xavier George says he's had all the luck and "head starts in the world" but still doesn't know when he'll be able to afford his own home. He worries about the "societal consequences" of Millennial frustration.

Xavier says his short-term rental leases and indexed HECS debt make it hard for him to imagine buying a home. Source: Supplied

Watch Insight's episode on Boomers V Millennials, where we ask why this generational divide is so great and what can be done about it, on SBS On Demand.

I’m 30, I rent and I owe more than $100,000 in student debt that will take me 23 years to pay off.

I did everything I was "supposed" to.

I worked hard at school, got the right ATAR score, went to a great university and even got a master's degree. I worked in the good internships (unpaid, of course) and put in overtime at decent jobs.

I was lucky to even have these opportunities. My parents sent me to the "right" school, they knew the "right" people who could get me those internships and early jobs. I come from a stable and relatively wealthy home, with a spare bedroom I can fall back on if it all truly goes to crap.

I've had all the head starts in the world and I’m doing everything you’re meant to.

I should be exactly the kind of person who owns a home.

But I don't.

Somehow I'm still on the hamster wheel of short-term leases and indexed HECS debt, without any clear path to buying a home and getting on with my life.

Xavier says the idea of Millennials being "entitled" is baffling to him when he says all they want is "the equivalent" of what their parents enjoyed. Source: Supplied

I studied a Bachelor of Arts before taking on a Master of Management (Marketing) degree. The same education that my parents got for free, I bought at triple the cost of their first home.

Try saving for a house deposit when you’re paying off a student loan and forking out rent.

That's even before I consider the moving costs that come with renting.

I’ve moved house every year for the past seven years. If my rent goes up again, this year will be number eight.

Just like most people who have lived in a shared house in Melbourne or Sydney, I have a few crazy tales about the greed of landlords.

The 'entitled' label for Millennials is baffling

We've all heard, "buy in the outer suburbs" or "back in my day, I had to live right out in the sticks".

But the "sticks" of yesteryear were Melbourne's expensive inner north where I choose to live rather than scrounging for a home loan. The "sticks" of today are actual sticks out in the boondocks where public transport is “coming soon".

The idea of Millennials being "entitled" is baffling to me. Is it entitled to want the equivalent of the kind of life our parents enjoyed?

It’s a very strange thing to watch yourself becoming radicalised. We all share guillotine memes and joke online about eating the rich. We know we're not the only ones.

I’m worried about the unforeseen societal consequences of all this frustration. Could an unfulfilled desire for justice become a blind lust for chaos?

Xavier appears in Insight episode Boomers V Millennials, which covers a range of different perspectives on Australia's housing situation.