Get up to £100 in a free stock or ETF | Use code 'MATE'
Affiliate link. Capital at risk. ISA rules apply.
I’ve got a genuine question for you this week: is the UK actually becoming unaffordable for normal people?
Because I'm starting to wonder where the breaking point is.
Inflation is still above target, the average UK private rent is around £1,400 per month, and mortgage rates are once again making life difficult for anyone buying, moving or remortgaging.
Remember when everyone was patiently waiting for mortgage rates to come tumbling back down?
Yeah... about that.
Buying a House Is Becoming Ridiculous
The average UK house costs somewhere around £270,000+, but the actual house price is only part of the problem. You've then got to finance the thing.
A £250,000 mortgage at 6% is a completely different beast to a £250,000 mortgage at 3% or 4%. Your monthly payment can change by hundreds of pounds without the house itself becoming any better.
Then add the deposit, solicitor fees, surveys, removals, potential stamp duty, repairs, furniture and everything else that comes with moving home.
If you're renting while trying to build that deposit, it gets even harder. Average rents are now around £1,400 per month across the UK and even higher in England.
And this is why I keep banging on about something incredibly boring:
Your budget.
Not because I think you need to stop buying coffee, cancel Netflix and sit in the dark eating beans.
Because knowing exactly what's coming in, what's going out and what you have left to invest gives you control.
That is the starting point for building wealth. Before ETFs, stocks, pensions, ISAs or anything remotely exciting, you need to know your numbers.
Then I Found This...
I came across a website this morning called My Benefits Bill:
https://benefitsdata.uk/mybill
Put your postcode into it and it'll show you information on benefit spending in your area, including things such as Universal Credit, PIP, Housing Benefit, Disability Living Allowance and Carer's Allowance.
Now, before the comments section catches fire, this isn't me suggesting that everyone claiming benefits shouldn't be doing so. Clearly there are millions of people who legitimately need financial support.
But the numbers are fascinating.
Put your own postcode in and have a look. Then, if you want to waste another ten minutes of your life like I did, start trying random places around the UK.
Try SW1A 2AA.
Try M16 0RA.
Try NE1 4ST.
Then compare them with where you live.
Regardless of where you sit politically, I think it raises some interesting questions about how much support households increasingly need just to function in the current economy.
And that brings us back to the bigger question: how affordable is Britain actually becoming?
