Perhaps I should have said "outside London and the South East, and other odd property hotspots like Edinburgh and south Manchester".
I'm on similar to that and definitely consider myself middle class if someone asked. Maybe lower-middle rather than upper-middle if being particular about it, but certainly not the image I would associate with working class of earning a lowish salary, renting, owning an old car and having to pay a lot of attention to what you buy.
But average money *is* middle class! That's kind of the point. It's not footballer type money, but if it's not comfortable, assuming you haven't got 20-odd kids and assuming your household has a second income of some kind or you live alone and assuming you don't live in a property hotspot, then you need to look at what you're spending (or if utilities are eating it all, look at insulating your house better).
The other thing about buying houses is that because of inflation (which is rampant at the moment) and because more equity = cheaper rates, it might feel a stretch now but in 20 years' time your mortgage payment will probably be half the average rents in your area. Which is why there's such a big jump in quality of life between working class renters and middle class owners. By the time you reach the end of your mortage the payment will be a pittance.
I don’t see a person on average money (say £30k a year) as a sole reason to dictate class (or two people in a family of four, both earning £30k a year). I think our views differ somewhat, but I’d say two people on £60k salaries are more like the stereotypical middle classes. Middle class id day isn’t just living comfortably, it’s living comfortably and affording private school for the kids with maybe one or two decent holidays a year. I consider myself to live comfortably in that the bills get paid and I don’t worry about the gas bill, but the kids are staying in state schools.
Upper class is having no money worries and being on Nick Ferrari money.