Bricks and mortar worth £3 trillion to homeowners

The UK's stock of private residential housing has doubled in value over the past five years and is now worth £3 trillion, according to research released today by Halifax.

In a message to the interest rate setters at the Bank of England, Halifax also said the growth in house values had outstripped the rise in household debt. A decade ago, the UK had household debt of £410bn and private housing assets worth just over £1,000bn - a ratio of 2.7. Today, the value of housing stock is £2,970bn while the amount of debt secured on that housing is £935bn - a ratio of 3.2.

Halifax said that over the past five years, the value of housing assets had risen three-fold. Over the past decade, the number of new houses in the UK has risen by less than 10 per cent.