Lloyds Bank’s private banking arm said total household wealth in the UK increased by £892bn last year – with the property and financial markets each responsible for half the rise. Previous surveys have shown that a tenth of adults own half the nation’s wealth, while 15% own nothing or have negative wealth. The survey said average house prices rose by 4.9% during 2016 and an additional 183,000 homes were added to the stock of private properties to buy and rent. With rising house and equity prices, net worth has increased substantially in the past decade, growing by £143,000 per household on average. “However, a continued low mortgage rate environment, combined with an ongoing shortage of properties for sale, should help continue to support house prices over the coming months.”

Source: The Guardian August 07, 2017 22:52 UTC