The path to first home ownership might be under a flight path

August 3, 2026 — 3:22pm

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Living under a flight path, next to a cemetery, beneath electricity transmission lines, close enough to get the whiff of a nearby tip, or near enough to suck in freeway fumes: These are the trade-offs first home owners are making to get a foot on the property ladder.

Iconic Australian comedy The Castle’s protagonist, Darryl Kerrigan, famously loved “the serenity” of his heavily powerline-infested rural getaway, and his son, Dale, saw the bright side in the family’s city home being next to an airport, saying: “It will be very convenient if we ever have to fly one day.”

First home owners aren’t laughing.

A report from Westpac, the country’s second-largest home lender, headlined “Postcode Trade-off” paints a picture of the lengths to which some would-be home owners are prepared to go to reach stage one of the property ownership dream.

The Castle parody now........

© The Age