I can hardly imagine the ability to buy a house at just 2x an annual salary in the UK. Even on very comfortable income, my best bet now is to plan to buy abroad and continue renting here. Between me and my partner, we could probably build a decent size house on a nice patch of land in Eastern Europe for around 2x our salary. Or maybe an apartment by the beach in the Mediterranean. You are right, I guess resigning oneself to things only getting worse has become the norm because I really don't see us staying here forever...