The value of housing stock in London has hit £1.3trn, while the total value of all UK homes is now at a record high of more than £6trn.
With the UK housing market continuing to hit the headlines, new research from Halifax reveals the extent of the massive gains made over the past 10 years, as housing stock value reaches its highest ever level.
London property, unsurprisingly, and the south of England in general, have enjoyed the biggest rise, with the capital city seeing values leap from £718bn in 2007 to £1,338bn in 2017. This is more than the total value of all the houses in Scotland, Wales and the north of England put together.
By contrast, the north-east saw a much smaller rise of £22bn over the 10-year period, from £114bn to £136bn, and the value of housing stock in Northern Ireland actually decreased from £121bn to £92bn.
The number of privately owned homes has also grown from 21.5 million to 23.4 million, with a majority of the housing wealth – 63.3% – being owned by over-55s. Just 3.3% is owned by under-35-year-olds, although this could be set to see a shift with the latest stamp duty changes for first-time buyers.
Role reversal
Reversing a trend going back many years, the latest research by Savills showed that London is expected to fall behind the north of England over the next five years, with house prices rising below inflation. Property values in the capital are expected to see a rise of just 7.1% compared to the 14.2% national average.
The north-west, north-east and Yorkshire and Humberside regions are forecast to see the strongest growth over the next five years, with rises of 18.1%, 17.6% and 17.6% respectively.
In London at the moment, the average house price is now 14.5 times an average person’s earnings, the highest it has ever been and 42% more than the long-term average over the past 15 years.
Over the past year, the regions have already been overtaking the capital, as Greater London saw just a 3% rise in property value in the 12-month period, while house prices in the centre have been either flat or falling. In comparison, Manchester saw an increase of 7.9%, while Birmingham‘s house prices rose by 7.4%.
