The fight for affordable housing:
how we made the calculations
To calculate these prices we first worked out how much average house prices have risen in England between 1971 and 2008:
- Average price in 1971: £5,632
- Average price in 2008: £227,765
(Source: Communities and Local Government Live Tables – click here to view).
The 2008 price is 40.44 times the 1971 price. This is the multiplier we have then applied to 1971 grocery prices, as shown here:
| Item | 1971 price (source: Office for National Statistics) | 2008 price if it had risen at the same rate as house prices (1971 price x 40.44) |
|---|---|---|
| Eggs, 1 doz. | 23p | £9.30 |
| Bananas, kilo | 18p | £7.28 |
| Button mushrooms, kilo | 60p | £24.26 |
The 2008 per kilo price for bananas was then multiplied by 1.08 to reflect a bunch of 6 loose bananas, (weighing 1.08kg) giving a final price of £7.86.
The 2008 per kilo price for mushrooms was then multiplied by 0.35 to reflect a 350g pack, giving a final price of £8.49.
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