Total UK housing value hit record high of £7.56 trillion in 2020, analysis finds

The total value of the UK’s housing stock hit a record high of £7.56 trillion in 2020, analysis has found.

Some £380 billion was added to the combined value of homes compared with 2019, Savills said.

Despite the financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, it marked the strongest growth since 2015.

The value of housing in the North of England (the North West, North East, and Yorkshire and the Humber) recorded its strongest growth since 2005, with a £59 billion gain taking the total value to £1.13 trillion in 2020.

The value of mortgaged owner-occupied homes passed £2.5 trillion for the first time, and a new 5% deposit mortgage guarantee scheme announced in last week’s Budget will boost this figure further, Savills said.

A £170 billion increase pushed the total value of mortgaged owner-occupier properties to £2.62 trillion in 2020.

The value of owner-occupied homes with no mortgage was higher still, at £2.88 trillion, with the total value of homes owned outright rising by 5.8% in the year.

A fifth (20%) of this value was concentrated in the South East. A further 17% was in London.

Lawrence Bowles, a director in Savills residential research team, said: “People reassessed their housing needs and preferences as a result of the pandemic and that drove a surge in transaction activity in the second half of last year.

“This triggered rapid price growth as many buyers who felt secure in their finances looked for larger homes to accommodate the multiple demands of home working and home schooling, as well as extra space for living and leisure.

“It also meant that the total value of properties held with a mortgage rose by 6.9% as people stretched their borrowing to accommodate lifestyle demands.”

The North of England, Midlands, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland together accounted for a record £2.81 trillion in housing value in 2020, Savills said.

Despite that growth, these regions, which together account for 56% of the UK’s homes, still only account for 37% of its housing value.

The total value of housing stock in London and the South East increased by £167 billion to £3.19 trillion.

These two regions account for 42% of the total value of housing stock in the UK but only 26% of all homes.

Savills used a range of sources including figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and UK Finance for its research.

Here is the total value of housing stock in the UK’s nations and regions, according to Savills, followed by the value gain in 2020:

– London £1.765 trillion, £101 billion

– South East, £1.420 trillion, £66 billion

– East of England, £855 billion, £39 billion

– South West, £706 billion, £41 billion

– North West, £561 billion, £33 billion

– West Midlands, £508 billion, £24 billion

– East Midlands, £418 billion, £22 billion

– Yorkshire and the Humber, £411 billion, £20 billion

– Scotland, £390 billion, £17 billion

– Wales, £245 billion, £9 billion

– North East, £158 billion, £7 billion

– Northern Ireland, £117 billion, £4 billion