According to data from the Communities and Local Government, the Office for National Statistics and the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the value of the UK’s stock has grown by £1.83 trillion in the last year from £4.43 trillion, its fastest annual growth since 2002.
Back in 2004 the UK’s stock was worth £3.22 trillion, meaning its value has increased by 57% in a decade.
Housing equity has risen by £1.42 trillion (61%) from £2.34 trillion in 2002 to £3.76 trillion.
The value of mortgage debt has increased by 47% since 2004 from £877bn to £1.29 trillion, yet the value of private housing stock outstrips this debt by more than four times.
Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, said: “An increase in average property values combined with a rise in the number of private new builds has contributed to the increase in the value of housing stock across all UK regions, although the growth is stronger in London and the South East.
“Aggregate housing equity held by UK households is in a healthy state with total housing assets worth £3.76 trillion more than the total value of mortgage debt.
“Regionally, there is wide variation in housing equity, but importantly after the recent housing downturn all regions are showing increasing equity levels.
“More so, there are an estimated 7.2 million households in England that own their home outright and are mortgage free.”
The greatest increase in the value of housing stock was in London, where it more than doubled (109%) from £545bn in 2004 to £1.14 trillion in 2014.
The capital is closely followed by Scotland, which has seen the value of its property rise by 96% from £170bn to £333bn.
In some areas increases are smaller, with the lowest rises being in the West Midlands (32%) and the North East (33%).
London has £820bn worth of equity, the equivalent of £313,466 per household, while the capital is followed by the South East (£726bn or £219,163 per household), and the East (£447bn or £203,462 per household).
Outside southern England highest average equity levels are in Scotland (£249bn, £126,930 per household), the North West (£278bn or £106,011 per household) and West Midlands (£248bn or £125,532 per household).
The lowest housing equity is in the North East (£84bn or £91,641 per household) and Northern Ireland (£14bn or £21,519 per household).
