Net UK housing wealth ‘exceeded £7 trillion for the first time last year’
That's according to analysis by estate agents, Savills
Net UK housing wealth exceeded £7 trillion for the first time last year, according to calculations from an estate agent.
The total value of UK homes reached £8.68 trillion at the end of 2022, Savills said.
With outstanding mortgage debt standing at £1.66 trillion, according to Bank of England records, Savills calculated that net housing wealth stood at more than £7 trillion.
Of this, nearly half – £3.34 trillion – was held by mortgage-free homeowners, the estate agent said.
Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills, said: “The growth in house prices over the past three years has added considerably to the paper wealth of homeowners, driven in no small part by the well-documented ‘race for space’ over the period.”
But he added: “Recent interest rate rises are going to continue to put first-time buyer and second stepper budgets under pressure in 2023 and 2024.
“Combined with the prospect of lower levels of housebuilding, we expect that 2022 will represent a high watermark for the value of the nation’s housing stock for a few years.”
Savills used a combination of sources for its calculations, including census, English Housing Survey and Land Registry data as well as Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Nationwide Building Society house price figures.
Published: by Radio NewsHub