1976 Child I agree with what you say. I too am absolutely ****ing disgusted with what Labour have done to this country and could also see this mess coming as early as 1997.
I too am renting and have been ready to buy a house since 2006. One up month for house prices does not mean 'the bottom' has been called! I'm looking to buy at the end of this year at the earliest.
Your £450. Open an account at options direct LTD. No minimum opening amount. Its a UK company and I have been using them for share dealing over a decade.
Now go to http://www.proshares.com and learn about exchange traded funds. There are lots of ways you can bet on the market going down, sector by sector. For example, I am holding Ultra short S&P500. When the S&P goes down 3%, this goes up by 9% etc. Sign up to http://www.stocktock.com, its free too. Whoever is interested in making some money should look at this website.
HTH