Our homes are worth £1 trillion more than they were a decade ago

by Simon Ward on 11 February 2012  |  9 comments
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A survey by Halifax has looked at the value of privately-owned properties across the UK over the past 10 years.

The value of our homes has risen by £1.8 trillion in the past decade, according to new research by Halifax. That’s equivalent to £68,500 per home-owning household.

However, the story of the past 10 years is very much “a game of two halves”, if you’ll forgive a footballing analogy.

While values soared in the six years to 2007, they have fallen by 5%, or £187 billion, since the credit crunch kicked off.

Interestingly, the biggest increase in values over the past decade has been in Scotland, where they’ve risen by 131%. The south east of England has seen the lowest growth but that’s still a pretty tidy 68%.

Here’s how the values have changed across the UK:

Outstanding mortgage debt has also risen - more than doubling over the past decade. However, Halifax says the growth in values outstrips that growth. This means that the total value of UK housing equity – the value of homes less outstanding mortgage debt – has increased from £1.5 trillion in 2001 to £2.6 trillion last year.

The north-south divide is also narrowing slightly according to the Halifax report. It says that the value of homes in the north has increased by 90% over the past decade, outpacing the south’s 70%. This means the south’s share of housing assets has fallen slightly from 60% in 2001 to 58% last year.

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