Don’t dare blame us baby boomers!
WE MARRIED in 1971 and lived from hand-to-mouth for years, with a secondhand washing machine, carpets, beds, three-piece suite and vacuum cleaner. We never grumbled and always put our children first. I went back to work in the evening, when my husband came home from his job to look after the children, so we could save up to buy a nice house in a decent area. We have never owed anyone anything and always saved to buy the things we needed so we weren’t burdened by hire purchase. Finally, we are comfortable. We don’t have to worry about bills and can occasionally help out our children. So I am astonished that housing minister Sajid Javid has described people such as me as selfish (Mail). When will politicians admit the housing crisis, our overstretched NHS and overcrowded schools are not down to baby boomers, but immigration?
A. DOnOgHue, Littleborough, Lancs. HOW dare young people say those over 60 don’t understand today’s housing problems. We bought our first house in 1972, and at one time the mortgage rate was 12 per cent! We couldn’t afford to go on holidays abroad or out to restaurants every week. The area I live in is full of large houses — where are the affordable homes for young people? Is it because the builders don’t make money from them? I’m sure many older people would downsize if there were anything suitable to buy. Bungalows are no longer being built, and apartments only seem to cater for students. So my response to our critics is to wake up to helping the older end of the population and the rest will follow.
Mrs L. MeLLALieu, Barnsley, S. Yorks. IT SEEMS that baby boomers are an easy target — we are blamed for everything. Why not add global warming, Donald Trump and the hurricanes in the Caribbean to the list? Those of us with children and grandchildren are well aware of how difficult it is to get on the housing ladder, secure a good job and provide all of the social media devices that are necessary today, just as our parents realised how much better off their children were than them. We didn’t ask to be born just after the war when food was rationed and TV was a pipedream. But who wants to know about that?
MAuReen HAgueS, Mansfield, notts. WOULD anyone kindly like to explain to me exactly how, by working hard, not accepting handouts, paying off my mortgage and now refusing to die, I am personally responsible for the housing shortage? By blatantly attempting to court the younger voter he risks losing traditional Tory supporters.
ALAn JARRett, Rochester, Kent.