Henley on Thames - Business - Why UK is a nation obsessed with the housing market

Henley on Thames - Business - Why UK is a nation obsessed with the housing market

NEW analysis from international real estate adviser Savills has revealed that the total value of the UK’s housing stock in 2010 topped £4 trillion (£4,156,000,000,000), more than double its 2000 value, but still below the £4.5 trillion at its peak in 2007.

With outstanding mortgage debt standing at around £1.25 trillion, wealth held in residential property has risen from £1.4 trillion to £2.9 trillion over the past decade, such that it accounts for around 70 per cent of the total value of housing stock.

“This research clearly demonstrates the very significant value of the UK’s housing stock and confirms its role as an unparalleled store of private wealth,” says Lucian Cook, director of residential research at Savills.

“It is little wonder then that we are a nation obsessed with the state of the housing market, but it is the distribution of that wealth that is likely to shape the housing market, household formation and wider society going forward.

“Specifically, much of the net wealth is held by older generations, with a skew towards London and the South- East. There has also been a significant increase in the value of housing and wealth held in the private rented sector.”