The BBC today featured creative renters transforming their rooms for just £10, finding ingenious ways to make temporary spaces feel like home. But here's what those budget decorating tips can't fix: the average house price that's now £92,000 higher than it was four years ago.

In 2017, the average house price sat at £1.32 million. Not cheap, but manageable for those climbing the property ladder. Then came the steady climb: £1.34 million in 2018, a slight dip to £1.33 million in 2019 as Brexit uncertainty gripped the market (Source: Office for National Statistics, House prices by local authority).

COVID changed everything. House prices jumped to £1.37 million in 2020 as the pandemic sparked a buying frenzy. Stamp duty holidays, remote work policies, and record-low interest rates created the perfect storm. Everyone wanted more space, bigger gardens, home offices.

By 2021, prices hit £1.46 million — a 6.7% leap in just one year. That's not gradual market movement. That's a fundamental shift in what housing costs in Britain.

Do the maths on what this means for real people. In 2017, someone saving £100,000 for a deposit faced a £1.32 million average price tag. The same person today, with the same deposit, faces £1.46 million. They've fallen £140,000 further behind, even if they saved perfectly.

This explains why those £10 room makeovers matter so much. When buying becomes impossible, renting becomes permanent. And when renting becomes permanent, small touches — fairy lights, removable wallpaper, clever storage — become the only way to create stability in an unstable housing market.

The timeline tells the story of two Britains diverging. Property owners watched their wealth grow by nearly £100,000 in four years. Renters watched their dreams of ownership disappear at roughly the same pace.

Every year that prices outpace wages and savings, more people join the permanent renting class. Every year, those £10 decorating tricks become less about personal style and more about making the best of a housing system that's left them behind.

The creativity is admirable. The necessity shouldn't exist.