The value of housing stock in the UK has shot up by more than 50% in the past 10 years, according to a new report.
The research from Halifax shows the value of UK’s private housing stock in August 2015 is estimated at £5.1 trillion, up 53% from £3.3 trillion in 2005.
This increase of £1.8 trillion since 2005 is equivalent to £76,316 per household in the owner-occupied and private rented sectors.
This far outweighs the growth rate of consumer prices, with the retail price index up by 35% over the same period.
In the past year alone, the value of private housing stock grew by £262 billion, mainly reflecting average house price growth of 4% in the year to August.
Mortgage debt has risen by 35% since 2005 from £942 billion to £1.28 trillion. The value of the private housing stock has grown by over five times as much as outstanding mortgage debt; £1.8 trillion compared with £334 billion. As a result, housing equity has increased by £1.4 trillion (60%) over the decade from £2.4 trillion in 2005 to £3.8 trillion.
There is a wide variation in the level of housing equity across the regions, with a higher balance in the south compared to northern areas. The highest is in London, where housing equity is estimated at £798 billion followed by South East (£722 billion, £223,197 per household), and the East (£461 billion, £212,263 per household).
Outside southern England, the highest equity levels are in the North West (£283 billion £109,043 per household), West Midlands (£251 billion, £128,703 per household) and Scotland (£241 billion, £124,679 per household).
Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, said: “The combined value of all privately owned houses in the UK is estimated at close to £5.1 trillion in 2015. The increase in total housing value over the past decade is equivalent to over £76,000 per privately owned property.
“Aggregate net housing equity held by UK households is in a healthy state with total housing assets worth nearly £4 trillion more than the total value of mortgage debt. Despite the rapid rise in mortgage debt over the past ten year, net housing equity has grown by £1.4 trillion since 2005.”
