As an afterthought: IF budget is a constraint, and IF your piloting ambitions are not very large, you could consider flying an ultralight (also known as a microlight in UK) such as the C42.
pro: affordable, widely available, performant and fun to fly
con: no upgrade path to multi-engine, IFR, night flying, complex, ...
At least that's the situation on the Continent, or in most continental countries. Things might be different across the Channel, I cannot say.