House prices: Value of homes in Kensington and Chelsea alone same as whole of Wales
Homes across Britain have added £49,257 to their value over the past five years on average, according to a property website.
The total value of homes has risen by 20 per cent – or £1.6 trillion – in the past five years, Zoopla said.
More than a third (£550bn) of the £1.6 trillion increase has been recorded in the past year alone.
And there are high concentrations of property wealth in some areas.
Westminster and Chelsea
The value of homes in the City of Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea (£306bn) – covering an area of just 13 square miles – is roughly the same as for the whole of Wales (£308bn), according to the calculations.
The total housing value in London reached £2.4 trillion this year.
Grainne Gilmore, head of research at Zoopla, said: “The value of Britain’s residential property has continued to climb over the last five years, speeding up over the last 12 months as house price growth has escalated.”
The website put the total value of homes across Britain at £9.2 trillion – made up of £8.2 billion held within privately-owned homes and £1 trillion held within social housing.
Low mortgage rates, keeping monthly repayments relatively affordable, have underpinned sustained house price growth, Zoopla said.
The coronavirus pandemic has also prompted many people to move home as part of making lifestyle changes, and a recent stamp duty also encouraged a flurry of property purchases.
Zoopla, which has a “my home” tool enabling people to see how much their home is worth, made the findings using data from its own website.
Here is the total value of housing in July 2021, according to Zoopla (figures have been rounded):
London, £2.4 trillion
South East, 1.7 trillion
Eastern England, £1.0 trillion
South West, £877 billion
North West, £713.2 billion
West Midlands, £610.7 billion
Yorkshire and the Humber, £505.7 billion
East Midlands, £500.8 billion
Scotland, £462.6 billion
Wales, £308.3 billion
North East, £197.2 billion