New research has revealed that Great Britain has an increasing number of property millionaires. This highlights a housing apartheid in Britain, with many people living in a property that’s worth a fortune while others are still unable to get onto the first rung of the property ladder.
With an average salary of £26,000, few can afford to risk buying a new home when the average price is around the £162,000 mark, however, many homeowners who bought their properties decades ago at a fraction of today’s market price, are sitting pretty in homes worth a million, or several million in some cases. And the research reveals the number of people who are able to fork out £1million or more on a home is increasing. Property owners with landlord insurance are even renting out homes worth £1 million and having no trouble finding tenants willing to pay the sky high rent demanded on such places.
In 2010, over 7000 people spent £1 million or more on a property, which is equal to around twenty people every day of the week. That number is a 50% increase on the previous year and the quickest increase in four years. Of the total number of £1million or more property sales, 125 of them were sold for over £5million. The research also shows that London predictably dominates the list of high value properties where only the well-paid and wealthy can afford to buy a property. During 2010 London had over 4000 homes bought for £1million or more, but only six were sold throughout Wales.
Outside of the capital the only other winner was Elmbridge, which is an exclusive corner of Surrey and has even been dubbed the Beverly Hills of Britain. It was also earlier this year voted the best place to live in the whole country, with the quality of life being viewed as better than anywhere else in Great Britain. This was based on residents living longer, earning more and children doing better in exams.
Suren Thiru, housing economist at Lloyds, said “This research highlights the strength at the very top end of the market. While prices have fallen sharply in many parts of the country, the price of many exclusive homes has never been higher and will not decrease any time soon.”