Minimax is highly thought of for £4-5k, and a plethora of Kitfox/Avid variants for about £10k.
I've always had a yen for the nearly-but-not-quite-aerobatic MW7 which are selling for £3-4k second hand at present.
Or if you fancy a challenge, spend £4k on a reasonable second hand flexwing, £1k on a microlight conversion, and the other £5k flying it for the next 6 years. ( I did that a few years ago, still have it, and have huge amounts of fun in it).
Aviasud Mistrals sell for around £10k, which is a nice touring biplane.
And numerous Shadow variants from about £8k upwards.
I've had the odd pleasant afternoon soaring in a borrowed Chevvron - a motorglider flown on a microlight license and they sell last I looked for a little over £10k second hand.
Or buy a cheap kit (there are quite a few out there), set of plans or incomplete project, and build/finish your own over the winter - something very satisfying (and mildly unnerving at first) about flying something you built yourself.
Doesn't matter if it's microlight or group A (if you have a strong pro-PFA bias, they have 700+ microlights) Just ignore aircraft on CofA, the purchase and running costs are too high for private flying for most of us.
P