I am seriously considering hour building in US
Why are you flying at all?
If you want to fill up a logbook, go to Arizona and fly backwards and forwards.
If you want to fill a logbook in the UK, rent a DA40 and fly it backwards and forwards. Or perhaps a C150 or similar; probably will be cheaper overall.
But if you want to fly for a purpose, flying has never been dirt cheap, relative to wages. And at the higher end of the capability spectrum (say, IFR touring) it is certainly more expensive than a few years ago.