Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 10:47 am
Britons' assets worth 'four times more than debt'
Britons have nearly four times as much money in their savings and homes as they owe in debt, research shows today.
People's homes are collectively worth £4.3 trillion, while consumers have also set aside £820bn in savings accounts, according to YouGov, which carried out the research on behalf of the Alliance & Leicester (A&L).
The value of people's assets dwarfs the £1.1 trillion they owe in mortgages and the £200bn debt they have racked up on credit cards, loans and overdrafts.
The total value of assets that Britons hold is further boosted when you take into account the £1.8 trillion they have in pension funds and property investments.
But YouGov also found that personal wealth was distributed unevenly across the country.
It said that 51% of the nation's assets, which it defines as the value of people's homes and savings minus money owed on mortgages and other debt, are owned by people living south of Watford, despite the area accounting for only 39% of households.
People living in London, the south-east and the south-west are collectively worth £2 trillion, and their high level of wealth is not just attributable to high house prices, as they also hold 46% of the nation's savings, the group said.
By contrast, people in Scotland and Wales account for only 10.6% of the nation's wealth despite making up 14.2% of all households.
Unsurprisingly, the group also found that older people tended to be better off than younger ones, with 62% of the UK's personal wealth held by people over 55, while the under 35s accounted for just 9%.
Overall, the research found that the richest half of the population have savings averaging £62,283, while the poorest half have on average only £317.
Three out of 10 households have no savings at all, while 42% have saved between £1 and £10,000. But the high levels of savings among the richest 29% of the population push national average savings up to £31,300.
People in London, the south-east and Scotland have the highest levels of savings, while those in the south-west, the north and East Anglia have the lowest levels.
YouGov found that getting on the property ladder also made a big difference to people's personal wealth, with people tending to have £3 in housing equity for every £1 they have in savings.
Ewan Edwards, head of savings and investments at A&L, said: "Britons are increasingly losing the savings habit.
"On average, we are saving just 2.1% of our disposable income, compared to 6% on average over the past 10 years, itself low by historic standards. This despite the fact that wages have risen faster than inflation, including housing costs."
The research also found that savings inequality increased with age. People in their early 20s had saved an average of £9,125, with the top 50% of people in the age group having saved nearly double this.
Savings levels tended to drop during people's early 30s as they bought their first home, but between the ages of 45 and 54 people's savings had grown again to an average £26,504, with the wealthiest half again having nearly double the average.
However, by the time people reached 60 the savings gap had soared, with the wealthiest half of the population having savings averaging more than £200,000, while the poorest half had less than £2,000.
The research was based on data from the Bank of England, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
Source: guardian.co.uk
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Britons have nearly four times as much money in their savings and homes as they owe in debt, research shows today.
People's homes are collectively worth £4.3 trillion, while consumers have also set aside £820bn in savings accounts, according to YouGov, which carried out the research on behalf of the Alliance & Leicester (A&L).
The value of people's assets dwarfs the £1.1 trillion they owe in mortgages and the £200bn debt they have racked up on credit cards, loans and overdrafts.
The total value of assets that Britons hold is further boosted when you take into account the £1.8 trillion they have in pension funds and property investments.
But YouGov also found that personal wealth was distributed unevenly across the country.
It said that 51% of the nation's assets, which it defines as the value of people's homes and savings minus money owed on mortgages and other debt, are owned by people living south of Watford, despite the area accounting for only 39% of households.
People living in London, the south-east and the south-west are collectively worth £2 trillion, and their high level of wealth is not just attributable to high house prices, as they also hold 46% of the nation's savings, the group said.
By contrast, people in Scotland and Wales account for only 10.6% of the nation's wealth despite making up 14.2% of all households.
Unsurprisingly, the group also found that older people tended to be better off than younger ones, with 62% of the UK's personal wealth held by people over 55, while the under 35s accounted for just 9%.
Overall, the research found that the richest half of the population have savings averaging £62,283, while the poorest half have on average only £317.
Three out of 10 households have no savings at all, while 42% have saved between £1 and £10,000. But the high levels of savings among the richest 29% of the population push national average savings up to £31,300.
People in London, the south-east and Scotland have the highest levels of savings, while those in the south-west, the north and East Anglia have the lowest levels.
YouGov found that getting on the property ladder also made a big difference to people's personal wealth, with people tending to have £3 in housing equity for every £1 they have in savings.
Ewan Edwards, head of savings and investments at A&L, said: "Britons are increasingly losing the savings habit.
"On average, we are saving just 2.1% of our disposable income, compared to 6% on average over the past 10 years, itself low by historic standards. This despite the fact that wages have risen faster than inflation, including housing costs."
The research also found that savings inequality increased with age. People in their early 20s had saved an average of £9,125, with the top 50% of people in the age group having saved nearly double this.
Savings levels tended to drop during people's early 30s as they bought their first home, but between the ages of 45 and 54 people's savings had grown again to an average £26,504, with the wealthiest half again having nearly double the average.
However, by the time people reached 60 the savings gap had soared, with the wealthiest half of the population having savings averaging more than £200,000, while the poorest half had less than £2,000.
The research was based on data from the Bank of England, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
Source: guardian.co.uk
Please post any news stories about IVAs here:
http://www.iva.co.uk/forum/default.asp?CAT_ID=5
See my Blog:
http://ivanews.blogs.iva.co.uk