A couple in Birmingham saved £30,000 for a house deposit in 2020. By 2021, that same house cost £92,000 more. Their deposit, once 20%, now covers barely 13%. They're still renting.

This is the story playing out across Britain. House prices rose 6.7% in 2021, from £1.37 trillion to £1.46 trillion in total value (Source: ONS, House prices by local authority). That's not just a percentage. It's £92 billion added to Britain's housing stock in a single year.

For the 15 million households who own their homes, 2021 delivered an unexpected windfall. The average property gained roughly £6,000 in value. Equity rose without them lifting a finger, paying a penny, or improving a single room.

But equity you can't access is just a number on paper. Most homeowners can't sell without buying somewhere else at equally inflated prices. The wealth is there, but it's trapped in bricks and mortar they're living in.

Meanwhile, the 4.6 million households renting saw their path to ownership stretch further away. A 10% deposit on the average home now requires thousands more in savings. Money they were close to having suddenly wasn't close enough.

The trajectory shows no let-up. Prices climbed steadily from £1.32 trillion in 2017 to £1.33 trillion in 2018, then dipped slightly to £1.33 trillion in 2019. COVID-19 year 2020 saw them jump to £1.37 trillion. Then came 2021's surge to £1.46 trillion.

First-time buyers face the starkest arithmetic. A £300,000 house that needed a £30,000 deposit in 2020 required £32,000 by 2021. That extra £2,000 might not sound like much, but for someone saving £200 a month, it represents 10 months of additional scrimping.

The winners and losers are starkly divided. Property owners saw their net worth rise automatically. Renters saw homeownership become more expensive while their rents likely rose too. The housing market created wealth for those who already had it, and barriers for those who didn't.

This isn't sustainable economics. When house prices rise faster than incomes, fewer people can afford to buy. When fewer people can buy, more people rent. When more people compete for rentals, rents rise. The cycle feeds itself.

That Birmingham couple is still saving. The house they wanted now costs even more. Their deposit, once nearly sufficient, buys them less house than it did two years ago. The market moved faster than they could save.