If food prices had risen like house prices the weekly shop would cost £453

The average UK house price in 1971 was £5,632...

Housing charity Shelter say their analysis of a typical weekly shop for a family of four based on house price inflation since 1971 underlines the UK’s dysfunctional housing market.

In 1971, they estimate that a weekly shop cost £10.40 and the average home £5,632. By 2011 the price of the average home had shot up to £245,319, making it more than 43 times more expensive. This would consequently put the average weekly shop at £453.23 with a chicken at £51.18, a box of six eggs at £5.01 and a loaf of sliced white bread at £4.36.

“The high cost of food is already a real concern for people, so if prices reached these levels there’s no way we’d accept it," said Shelter’s chief executive Campbell Robb. "Yet when it comes to the huge rise in the cost of buying a home over the past few decades, somehow this is seen as normal, even welcome, despite the impact it’s having on a generation desperate for a home of their own.

“With more young people and families priced out, homeownership is already starting to fall, which in turn is driving up the cost of renting. Unless something changes, the next generation will find it even tougher to get a stable and affordable home.”

A recent poll by the charity showed that 59% of British adults who don’t own a home believe they’ll never be able to afford to buy in their local area.