The value of UK homes hit a record high in 2018, reaching £7.29 trillion, according to research by Savills.
Despite Brexit uncertainty, the value of UK housing stock increased by £180 billion last year.
However, the share of this equity remains highly unequal. Those over 50 hold more than three-quarters of UK homeowner equity, compared to the less than 5% held by under 35s. Over 65s in London and the south of England hold over 25% of the total equity.
Millennials can now expect to wait until their 30th birthday to pick up the keys to their first home, seven years later than in the 1960s. New buyers can expect to fork out a deposit of £33,000 for their first home, a 91% increase on the average deposit in 2007.
Almost three quarters of the increases in the value of housing stock came from price rises, which averaged £4,800 per home. The remaining gains came from new housing developments, which made their biggest ever contribution to the increase in housing stock value.
Lawrence Bowles, residential research analyst at Savills, said: ‘It’s great that we’re seeing more housing delivery. But development will have to make up a much higher proportion of new housing value if we are to come anywhere near building the homes this country needs.’
More than 200,000 homes in England were unoccupied for at least six months in 2016, despite the country’s housing shortage. Research by the Lib Dems last year revealed that there are over 11,000 homes in the UK which have stood unused for more than 10 years.