Friday, 30th. January 2026

I feel guilty this morning as I am letting down people who mean a lot to me. I had planned to meet up with friends for one of my two visits a month to my ‘local’, which is not actually local geographically but figuratively. I have simply run out of money.

I was determined that, in the new year I would increase my efforts to live within my means, which is essentially a combination of two pensions – state and work. Most economists will tell you that, despite all the hyperbole in the media and in politics, the old adage coined by Harold Macmillan in 1957 – “You’ve never had it so good” – applies now more than ever since the end of World War Two.

It does not feel like it, but it is true. However, the ‘feel good’ factor is not felt by a sizeable chunk of the population, and there are many reasons for this. Primary amongst them is housing. Whilst most people of my age own their homes outright, and therefore effectively have no housing costs other than maintenance, I am a renter, and the worst kind of renter – at the mercy of a private landlord.

In very simple terms, if I owned my home I would be approximately £900-£1,100 a month better off. That is a great deal of money. I would not feel cold for most of each day. I could visit friends in the pub. I might even be able to afford to run a car. So, homeowners of a certain age have almost certainly never had it so good. But for tenants and younger people struggling to make a home of their own, that phrase might just as well be in a dead language no-one has heard of. A tale of two Britain’s, divided by access to affordable housing.