Wealth in Great Britain rises to £12.8 trillion

An additional 800,000 households became millionaires in 2016, as British wealth rose to a record £12.8 trillion.

Nominal wealth (not adjusting for low inflation during the period) of all households in Great Britain was £12.8 trillion in July 2014 to June 2016, up 15 per cent from the July 2012 to June 2014 figure of £11.1 trillion. Median household total net wealth was £259,400 in the same period, up from £225,100 in the previous period (an increase of 15 per cent).

According to the Wealth and Assets Survey, a UK based survey covering 20,000 households during the period between July 2014 and June 2016 and published by the Office for National Statistics, the wealth held by the top 10 per cent of households was around five times greater than the wealth of the bottom half of all households combined.

Some 3.6m households – 14 per cent of the population – have assets of more than £1 million, up from 2.7 million in 2014. The number of households with less than £20,000, meanwhile, was also 3.6 million.

The wealth boom was largely driven by pensions and property. Private pension wealth saw the biggest increase with aggregate total private pension wealth of all households in Great Britain reaching £5.3 trillion, an increase from £4.4 trillion in July 2012 to June 2014.

Property wealth for households in London compared with all other regions saw significant increases in value; median net property wealth in London was £351,000 in July 2014 to June 2016, a 33 per cent increase from £263,000 in July 2012 to June 2014. 

Beavis Morgan – Advisers to Britain’s high net worth individuals

Our specialist team at Beavis Morgan offers over 40 years’ experience in helping high net worth individuals maintain their capital value and manage their income levels, to assist in continuing to meet your lifestyle goals.

We proactively explore the intricacies of the tax legislation, making sure that all reliefs available to you are utilised and that your interests are safeguarded. We can also assist you with medium and longer-term financial planning to ensure that you, your family, and ultimately future generations of your family, will benefit from your wealth in accordance with your wishes.

For more information and to discuss your tax affairs in further detail, please contact your usual Beavis Morgan Partner.