UK vs US comparisons need to be treated with some care. Nothing has an inherent price. The UK is small and densely populated, and properties in which to live or conduct businesses are expensive. Social costs are higher than in the US. These factors affect prices, but don't stop the relentless consumer pressure to have cheap everything, regardless of the implications for the environment, developing world working conditions etc. In the UK, goods of all kinds are currently tending to get cheaper, whilst services are tending to get more expensive.