Household wealth passes the £7 trillion mark

Wealthiest 10 per cent of households hold 22 times more wealth than those in the bottom half

Total household wealth - the value of housing less the amount of mortgages outstanding -  is now estimated to be £7.05 trillion by Lloyds TSB Private Banking, thanks to an increase of £2.71 trillion over the past decade.

Nitesh Patel, economist at Lloyds TSB Private Banking, said: "Most of this increase came during the "boom" years prior to 2007 when the economy grew rapidly, with rising employment and incomes.

"While wealth has soared in the past decade, there is a large divide in where it has accumulated. The wealthiest 10 per cent of households hold 22 times more wealth, on average, than those in the bottom half. This is a substantial gap, although many of the wealthiest are older individuals who have had a much longer time to accumulate their wealth holdings, as well as to reduce their debts."