UK housing now worth £3 trillion

The value of the UK's housing stock has almost doubled in the past five years to £3 trillion, a new report indicates.

The report by High Street bank Halifax says that over the past decade, every region has seen the value of its housing rise by at least 85%.

But some have moved much faster, with Greater London's housing more than tripling in value since 1993.

The news comes as housing survey firm Hometrack doubled its estimate for 2004 price growth to 8%.

Hometrack said its decision reflected a 0.7% rise in prices in March.

The first three months of the year had all shown price rises "significantly above" those seen in 2003.

Combined with evidence of "ongoing pent-up demand", that indicated that the housing market was set to pick up speed, the firm said.

Mixed picture

In its research, Halifax noted that the huge rise in Greater London housing values belied a more recent surge elsewhere in the country.

See how the UK housing market measures up

At-a-glance

In the past year, it said, the North, Yorkshire & Humber, and Wales had seen the value of housing stock rise more than a quarter.

In contrast, Greater London had seen the value rise by 11%, with the South-East showing a gain of 8%.

During the decade to 2003, the number of residences had grown by little more than 12%, while housing values were up by almost 200%.