The Pocket Money Promotion, July 2026 Inflation & Affordability Update
What if your boss walked up to you tomorrow morning and handed you an extra £4.60 for every £100 you already earn, but at the same time, the local supermarket bumped up the price of your milk and bread by £3.00? You’d feel a bit richer, wouldn’t you? Not "buy a private island" richer, but certainly like you’ve got a few more coins rattling around in your pocket at the end of the week.
Here is a bold take for you: despite everything you hear on the news about things being expensive, we are actually entering the best time for "spending power" that we’ve seen in months. While many people are waiting for a "crash" that isn't coming, the real story is that your wages are finally winning the race against rising prices.
The Tug-of-War: Prices vs. Pay
Let's talk about inflation. Think of it like a "price tag fever." When inflation is high, the cost of everything from a haircut to a tank of petrol gets "hotter" and more expensive. Right now, that fever has settled at 3%. This means if a basket of groceries cost you £100 this time last year, that same basket now costs about £103.
But here is the exciting bit: while prices went up by 3%, the average person's pay packet grew by 4.6%.
Did you know that this gap is the "magic zone" for your bank balance? Because your pay is growing faster than the cost of living, you actually have about 1.6% more "real" money to play with. In plain English, your hard-earned cash is stretching further than it did in the spring.
What does this mean for your move?
If you’ve been dreaming of a bigger kitchen or a garden for the dog, this is a massive green light. For months, it felt like we were running up a downwards escalator—no matter how much we saved, things got more expensive.
Now, the escalator has slowed down. The Bank of England’s base rate (the big number that helps decide how much interest you pay on loans) is holding steady at 3.75%. Because people feel a bit more "flush" with that extra 1.6% spending power, we are seeing more people getting keys to new homes. In fact, 56,200 people had their home moves green-lit last month!
The average price of a home in the UK now sits at £286,209. While that’s up slightly from last month, the fact that your wages are climbing faster means that the dream of owning a home—or moving to a bigger one—is becoming more "doable" for everyday families.
Bringing it home to null
You might be wondering, "David, that's all well and good for the whole country, but what about here in null?"
In our corner of the world, things move a little differently. With an average asking price of £795,160, we are firmly in what we call a "buyer's market." Because it's currently taking about 507 days to find the right person for a home here, buyers in null have a lot of "haggling power."
When you combine that national "extra pocket money" (the 1.6% wage win) with the fact that there are 278 properties for sale right now in null, it puts local buyers in a very strong position. You have more choice, and your money goes further than it did in March or April.
It’s been a long road, but the clouds are clearing. Prices are behaving, pay is rising, and that move you’ve been talking about over Sunday dinner is looking more like a reality every single day.