270,000 new UK property millionaires

Image credit Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images

The race for space and stamp duty tax breaks have fuelled a rate in house price rises not seen since 2006, pushing many more homes into the £1 million bracket.

Demand for property has risen 60% since the start of the pandemic, while supply has fallen 40% below historic norms. The result - house prices shot up while the nation moved house.

Ten million homes, a third of the UK total, saw their value increase by £50,000 or more as the pandemic pushed up demand to levels not seen since 2006.

The average UK home increased in value by £48 a day as flexible working became the new normal, encouraging people to seek better value by buying further afield.

Demand was so strong that availability simply dried up, falling 40% below the five year average.

Some 270,000 individual homes pushed above the £1 million mark. In addition, many of the UK's 500,000 portfolio landlords - those owning four or more properties - have seen the value of their holdings rise to above £1 million.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that the total value of the UK's housing stock now stands at £10.1 trillion, up from £8.8 trillion pre-pandemic.

Wales has seen the highest increase, up by 22% from £274 billion to £335 billion, followed by the South West and the North West, both up by 20%.