Former BBC economics editor, Robert Peston, has suggested that parents should consider selling their house to help their children buy their own property.
"We've got to--on a personal level--move out of our big houses and somehow create the equity to pass on to the next generation," Peston said.
In a news report by the Telegraph, the 55-year-old journalist shared that the 'greatest anxiety' he had as a parent was the difficulty his sons might face getting on to the housing ladder.
"We haven't got enough affordable housing particularly in the south. I think this is one of the great social scandals of our age," stressed Peston. "I've got a couple of kids, and if you're a parent this is one of the great[est] anxieties."
Peston said that our generation is partly to blame for the current economy issues and the present problem in affordable housing.
"Our generation--it's a terrible thing to say but we've had it all and we also f***ed up the economy," Peston said.
Peston also calls other parents in his age to be "less selfish and start giving something back to the younger generation." Peston added that, "Of course if you get to my age, you get set in your ways and you want to stay (living) where you are. But [it is] actually then [that you also see the need of] the next generation and you think--well, it's time to pass something on."
Peston has two grown-up sons. Maximillian is the name of his son with his wife Sian Busby, a novelist who died in 2012 at the age of 51 due to lung cancer. His stepson, Simon, is Busby's son from her first marriage.
Peston is one of the highest paid British journalists. His recent transfer to the rival channel of BBC, ITV, is said to have brought him a salary of around £400,000.
