Budget 2026: No more fat to trim for 'squeezed middle'
Summary
Ahead of Chancellor John Healey’s first Budget, Ipswich resident Dawn Fazackerley-King says her family has little left to cut as they prepare for a possible rise in their mortgage rate. The article describes household cost pressures and cites Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts of modest growth in real disposable income from 2026 to 2030.Key Facts
- Fazackerley-King, 42, is a self-employed Pilates instructor and lives in Ipswich with her husband and two children, aged six and eight.
- The couple’s household income is about £70,000 a year.
- Their mortgage rate could rise from 1.4% to about 5.3%, which she estimates could add about £250 a month.
- She says the family has already cut spending and has no regular meals out.
- In an August survey, 55% of adults who responded to the Office for National Statistics said their cost of living had risen from the previous month; the article reports 62% in August 2025 and 79% in April this year.
- Among respondents reporting higher costs, the most common reasons were food shopping, fuel and energy bills.
- The article says Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced a £2 cap on most single bus fares in England, a cut to VAT on domestic electricity bills, and plans to remove gas standing charges.
- The Office for Budget Responsibility forecast average annual growth of 0.75% in real household disposable income from 2026 to 2030, compared with average annual growth of 3% from 2000 to 2007.
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