The value of UK housing stock has topped £6tn for the first time, according to Halifax.
The lender says the total value of private residential property in the UK has grown by £1.94tn (48 per cent from 2007) to around £6.02tn today.
UK housing stock value rose £376bn in the past year.
The average UK household value is now £256,912, up 37 per cent from £187,310 in 2007.
The increase has been driven by a 45 per cent rise in average house price in ten years.
Meanwhile the number of privately-owned homes rose by 1.9 million in that time, to 23.4 million.
Halifax managing director Russell Galley says: “The value of housing stock has grown by close to £2tn in the past decade and, with the equity rich regions of London and the South East largely responsible, it highlights a considerable regional imbalance in the distribution of housing wealth.”
More than half of the £1.94tn rise in the last decade is accounted for by London and the South East.
On average 76 per cent of privately-owned homes across the UK are owner occupied.
In the capital, only 62 per cent of private housing residents own their own homes.
Regional variation
There is a wide regional variation in the level of housing equity – the difference between the value of the housing stock and total outstanding mortgage debt.
The South has a higher balance compared to northern areas.
The highest is in London, where housing equity is estimated at £968bn or £360,193 per household.
This is followed by the South East (£926bn, £279,590 per household), and the East (£598bn, £269,756 per household).
Outside southern England, the highest equity levels are in the North West (£355bn, £134,273 per household), West Midlands (£273bn, £137,354 per household) and Scotland (£263bn, £135,282 per household).
Retirement wealth
Net housing wealth peaks as homeowners reach retirement age, Halifax found.
Three in five homeowners aged over 65 are mortgage free.
Almost a quarter (24.4 per cent) of total housing wealth is held by households in the age group from 55 to 64.
Almost half (47 per cent) of those aged 25 to 44 have a mortgage.
This age bracket accounts for 15.4 per cent of total housing wealth.
Just 0.1 per cent of net housing wealth is held by those aged 16 to 24.
