MAILMONEY: KING-SIZE PRICES; Jubilee costs shocker.. but it'll be worse when Wills is on throne.

Byline: GRAEME LENNOX

A NEW family car for pounds 470, beer at 6p a pint and a nice new semi for a fraction over pounds 2000.

It's no wonder your parents are misty-eyed with Jubilee nostalgia this weekend, looking back to 1952.

But there are two sides to every coin... and 50 years from now, we'll be facing incredible, inflation-fuelled horrors like pounds 20,000-A-MONTH mortgages.

But don't worry - if runaway inflation lets prices get that high, we'll all be on an average wage of pounds 1million a year.

As the Queen celebrates her Golden Jubilee, we look at what life will be like in 2052. King William sits on the throne with his Queen, Britney I, and First Minister Darius Danesh is promising the Holyrood Parliament will be completed "within days".

After another 50 years of price hikes, the average UK house will cost pounds 4.9million, according to the latest projections from Yorkshire Bank. They say a monthly mortgage payment of pounds 400 now could soar to nearly pounds 20,000.

The average house price today stands at pounds 100,400, a 50-fold increase on the price when the Queen took the throne. In the same time, owner-occupation has risen from 30 per cent of the population to nearly 70 per cent.

In 1952, a four-door Ford Consul saloon was pounds 470. By 2002, a family's four-door Ford Focus was nearly 30 times more at pounds 13,555.

But by 2052, a new family motor will be nearly pounds 400,000, claims the bank.

Grocery bills will be huge, too. The bank predicts a pint of milk will cost pounds 5, a loaf of bread pounds 13 and bacon pounds 30 a pack... and a week's shopping could reach four figures.

Bank boss Paul Fegan says: "These figures don't represent current inflation rates, but UK house prices have increased almost 50-fold in 50 years, so it's not out of the question they could do the same again."

But while these prices might sound astronomical, thankfully our wages are expected to keep pace.

In the last 50 years, weekly pay packets for men have risen from under pounds 9 to pounds 360, while women have seen their income jump from pounds 5 to pounds 240.

By 2052, pay packets of pounds 20,000 to pounds 30,000 a week - the sums earned now by pop stars and footballers - could be the norm.

Neil Robertson, senior consultant at investment advisers Shields, said: "If you earn pounds 20,000 and your salary goes up eight per cent a year, you become a millionaire by 2052.

"The chances of it happening are zero if the Government keep inflation under control.

"The figures are a bit of fun but, in the '90s, people believed such figures and took on mortgages they could never repay."

When Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1952, Britain had the world's second biggest economy - but the basic rate of income tax was 45 per cent.

In real terms, the spending power of the average household has roughly doubled over the period, from pounds 190 per week - at current prices - to pounds 407.

In 1952, when eggs, sugar and cheese were rationed, a third of spending went on food.

Today, we spend a sixth of our income on food, while a fifth goes on holidays and electrical goods.

Dr Paul Johnson, of the London School of Economics, adds: "It's perfectly reasonable to argue that our spending power could double again by 2052. We could have twice as many luxuries as now."

Spending on leisure has increased from 11 per cent to 18 per cent of household expenditure since 1952.

We surround ourselves with the latest widescreen TVs, computers and flash cars.

Fifty years ago, most households could afford only one holiday a year - and not abroad. These days, cheap flights open up Europe for less than pounds 50.

With the first space tourists already paying millions for the privilege, we could all be reaching for the Moon by 2052.

All this luxury could be down to the fact that we are working harder than ever. The average worker's productivity is 2.6 times that at the start of the Queen's reign.

In terms of investment, there is one clear winner since 1952, according to the Barclays Capital Equity Gilt Study, which has analysed returns since 1900.

It says the stock market was the top investment vehicle, with average annual returns of 7.1 per cent compared to just 1.7 per cent for the average building society account.

Someone who invested pounds 100 in M&G's Blue Chip unit trust in 1952 would now have a fund worth more than pounds 35,000.

Confidence in the stock market plummeted after the recent economic slowdown and the September 11 terrorist attacks. Where it will go is almost impossible to predict.

But it will have to do pretty well if we're to have any hope of paying off pounds 20,000 a month mortgages.

AVERAGE PRICES 1952 1977 2002

Loaf 3p 16p 65p

1Ib Bacon 23p 80.5p pounds 1.99

Pint milk 21/2p 7p 38p

Pint beer 6p 38p pounds 2.20

House price UK pounds 2,047 pounds 12,409 pounds 100,473

House price Scotland * pounds 13,674 pounds 69,591

Small family car pounds 470 pounds 2500 pounds 13,555