House prices vary widely in the United Kingdom (UK), but housing in certain cities and counties is substantially pricier than in others. Surrey, for example, concentrated four of the most expensive towns to buy a home, including Virginia Water, Cobham, and Esher. With an average house price of over one million British pounds as of June 2024, housing in these towns cost roughly four times the national average. How did house prices change since the COVID-19 pandemic? Since the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, demand for housing has been especially high, causing house prices to soar. Among major UK cities, the house price increase was most prominent in Belfast, where it rose by 5.5 percent in 2024. According to the UK House Price Index, the average annual house price increase on a national level was even higher. How long does it take to sell a house? With the demand for housing going strong and inventory running low, aspiring homeowners need to act faster than ever when making an offer on a home. The average number of days on market has continued shortening since the start of 2021 and was a little over a month as of October 2021. Surprisingly, selling a property took the longest in the UK’s most competitive market - London.

The gross domestic product per capita of London was 57,338 British pounds in 2022, far larger than that of other major cities in England, such as Manchester which had a GDP per capita of 31,178 pounds.

This GLA Intelligence Update takes a brief look at evidence around the wealth gap in London and examines how this has changed in recent years.

Key Findings

• There is a significant gap between the rich and poor in London, both in terms of their wealth and their income.
• A higher proportion of the wealthiest households are in the South East of England than in London.
• Pension wealth accounts for more than half the wealth of the richest ten per cent of the population.
• In London, the tenth of the population with the highest income have weekly income after housing costs of over £1,000 while people in the lowest tenth have under £94 per week.
• The gap between rich and poor is growing, with the difference between the average income for the second highest tenth and second lowest tenth growing around 14 per cent more than inflation since 2003.

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The data included in the report is available to download here

Humbie and Gullane in East Lothian, were two of the most expensive towns for residential property in Scotland as of February 2022. The average house price in both towns was estimated at over 500,000 British pounds. In comparison, the average house price in Scotland was almost three times lower.

Which are the most expensive streets to live in Scotland? With the average house price valued at approximately 3.6 million British pounds, Whitehouse terrace, Edinburgh EH9 was the most expensive street for residential real estate in Scotland in 2022. This was almost twice higher than in the second priciest street, Caledonian crescent Auchterarder PH3.

Compared to other regions in the UK, Scotland is affordable Though 3.6 million British pounds is an impressive figure, not all housing in Scotland falls in this price bracket. In fact, with an average house price of about 170,000 British pounds, Scotland is the third most affordable region for first-time home buyers. Furthermore, it has the second lowest rent to income ratio in the UK.

In the 3 years to March 2021, black households were most likely out of all ethnic groups to have a weekly income of under £600.

As of 2024, the GDP per capita or gross domestic product per person was almost 52,420 U.S. dollars per person. The GDP per capita is derived from the country's total GDP divided by the population. The average or mean wealth per person in the United Kingdom (UK) was higher than the median or middle value of wealth per person living in the UK.

At the turn of the twentieth century, the wealthiest one percent of people in the United Kingdom controlled 71 percent of net personal wealth, while the top ten percent controlled 93 percent. The share of wealth controlled by the rich in the United Kingdom fell throughout the twentieth century, and by 1990 the richest one percent controlled 16 percent of wealth, and the richest ten percent just over half of it.

United Kingdom UK: Bank Account Ownership at a Financial Institution or with a Mobile-Money-Service Provider, Richest 60%: % of Population Aged 15+ data was reported at 97.620 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 99.490 % for 2014. United Kingdom UK: Bank Account Ownership at a Financial Institution or with a Mobile-Money-Service Provider, Richest 60%: % of Population Aged 15+ data is updated yearly, averaging 97.620 % from Dec 2011 (Median) to 2017, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 99.490 % in 2014 and a record low of 97.599 % in 2011. United Kingdom UK: Bank Account Ownership at a Financial Institution or with a Mobile-Money-Service Provider, Richest 60%: % of Population Aged 15+ data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Bank Account Ownership. Account denotes the percentage of respondents who report having an account (by themselves or together with someone else) at a bank or another type of financial institution or report personally using a mobile money service in the past 12 months (richest 60%, share of population ages 15+).; ; Demirguc-Kunt et al., 2018, Global Financial Inclusion Database, World Bank.; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

Advani, Hughson and Tarrant (2021) model the revenue that could be raised from an annual and a one-off wealth tax of the design recommended by Advani, Chamberlain and Summers in the Wealth Tax Commission’s Final Report (2020). This deposit contains the code required to replicate the revenue modelling and distributional analysis. The modelling draws on data from the Wealth and Assets Survey, supplemented with the Sunday Times Rich List, which we use to implement a Pareto correction for the under-coverage of wealth at the top.

Around the world, the unprecedented public spending required to tackle COVID-19 will inevitably be followed by a debate about how to rebuild public finances. At the same time, politicians in many countries are already facing far-reaching questions from their electorates about the widening cracks in the social fabric that this pandemic has exposed, as prior inequalities become amplified and public services are stretched to their limits. These simultaneous shocks to national politics inevitably encourage people to 'think big' on tax policy.

Even before the current crisis there were widespread calls for reforms to the taxation of wealth in the UK. These proposals have so far focused on reforming existing taxes. However, other countries have begun to raise the idea of introducing a 'wealth tax'-a new tax on ownership of wealth (net of debt). COVID-19 has rapidly pushed this idea higher up political agendas around the world, but existing studies fall a long way short of providing policymakers with a comprehensive blueprint for whether and how to introduce a wealth tax.

Critics point to a number of legitimate issues that would need to be addressed. Would it be fair, and would the public support it? Is this type of tax justified from an economic perspective? How would you stop the wealthiest from hiding their assets? Will they all simply leave? How can you value some assets? What happens to people who own lots of wealth, but have little income with which to pay a wealth tax? And if wealth taxes are such a good idea, why have many countries abandoned them?

These are important questions, without straightforward answers. The UK government last considered a wealth tax in the mid-1970s. This was also the last time that academics and policymakers in the UK thought seriously about how such a tax could be implemented. Over the past half century, much has changed in the mobility of people, the structure of our tax system, the availability of data, and the scope for digital solutions and coordination between tax authorities. Old plans therefore cannot be pulled 'off the shelf'.

This project will evaluate whether a wealth tax for the UK would be desirable and deliverable. We will address the following three main research questions:

(1) Is a wealth tax justified in principle, on economic or other grounds? (2) How should a wealth tax be designed, including definition of the tax base and solutions to administrative challenges such as valuation and liquidity? (3) What would be the revenue and distributional effects of a wealth tax in the UK, for a variety of design options and at specified rates/thresholds?

To answer these questions, we will draw on a network of world-leading exports on tax policy from across academia, policy spheres, and legal practice. We will examine international experience, synthesising a large body of existing research originating in countries that already have (or have had) a wealth tax. We will add to these resources through novel research that draws on adjacent fields and disciplines to craft new solutions to the practical problems faced in delivering a wealth tax. We will also review common objections to a wealth tax.

These new insights will be published in a series of 'evidence papers' made available directly to the public and policymakers. We will also publish a final report that states key recommendations for government and (if appropriate) delivers a 'ready to legislate' design for a wealth tax. We will not recommend specific rates or thresholds for the tax. Instead, we will create an online 'tax simulator' so that policymakers and members of the public can model the revenue and distributional effects of different options. We will also work with international partners to inform debates about wealth taxes in other countries.

In 2022, London had a gross domestic product of over 508 billion British pounds, by far the most of any region of the United Kingdom. The region of South East England which surrounds London had the second-highest GDP in this year, at over 341 billion pounds. North West England, which includes the major cities of Manchester and Liverpool, had the third-largest GDP among UK regions, at approximately 223.5 billion pounds. Levelling Up the UK London’s economic dominance of the UK can clearly be seen when compared to the other regions of the country. In terms of GDP per capita, the gap between London and the rest of the country is striking, standing at 57,338 pounds per person in the UK capital, compared with just over 33,593 pounds in the rest of the country. To address the economic imbalance, successive UK governments have tried to implement "levelling-up policies", which aim to boost investment and productivity in neglected areas of the country. The success of these programs going forward may depend on their scale, as it will likely take high levels of investment to reverse economic neglect regions have faced in the recent past. Overall UK GDP The gross domestic product for the whole of the United Kingdom amounted to 2.56 trillion British pounds in 2024. During this year, GDP grew by 0.9 percent, following a growth rate of 0.4 percent in 2023. Due to the overall population of the UK growing faster than the economy, however, GDP per capita in the UK fell in both 2023 and 2024. Nevertheless, the UK remains one of the world’s biggest economies, with just five countries (the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and India) having larger economies. It is it likely that several other countries will overtake the UK economy in the coming years, with Indonesia, Brazil, Russia, and Mexico all expected to have larger economies than Britain by 2050.

Gross domestic product (GDP) in current market prices and as chained volume measures, plus GDP per capita, for each local authority district, metropolitan district, London borough and Scottish Council area in the UK.

This statistic shows the highest valued towns in Wales as of June 2021, by average property value in British pounds. The town of Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan has the highest average property value of any town in Wales with an average house price of approximately 452,000 British pounds.

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In 2022, the gross domestic product per capita in London was 57,338 British pounds, compared with 33,593 pounds per capita for the United Kingdom as a whole. Apart from London, the only other region of the UK that had a greater GDP per capita than the UK average was South East England, at 36,425 pounds per capita. By contrast, North East England had the lowest GDP per capita among UK regions, at 24,172 pounds. Regional imbalance in the UK economy? London's overall GDP in 2022 was over 508 billion British pounds, which accounted for almost a quarter of the overall GDP of the United Kingdom. South East England had the second-largest regional economy in the country, with a GDP of almost 341.7 billion British pounds. Furthermore, these two regions were the only ones that had higher levels of productivity (as measured by output per hour worked) than the UK average. While recent governments have recognized regional inequality as a major challenge facing the country, it may take several years for any initiatives to bear fruit. The creation of regional metro mayors across England is one of the earliest attempts at giving regions and cities in particular more power over spending in their regions than they currently have. UK economy growth slow in late 2024 After ending 2023 with two quarters of negative growth, the UK economy grew at the reasonable rate of 0.8 percent and 0.4 percent in the first and second quarters of the year. This was, however, followed by zero growth in the third quarter, and by just 0.1 percent in the last quarter of the year. Other economic indicators, such as the inflation rate, fell within the expected range in 2024, but have started to rise again, with a rate of three percent recorded in January 2025. While unemployment has witnessed a slight uptick since 2022, it is still at quite low levels compared with previous years.

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Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The purpose of this survey was to fill in gaps in economic statistics, and especially to provide estimates of the distribution of liquid assets amongst persons and of the volume of personal savings and its relation to personal income. The 1956 survey sought to sample only the upper end of income and wealth distributions, as it was felt that these had been persistently under-represented in the earlier surveys.

This statistic presents the wealth distribution among households in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2018. Approximately 44.6 percent adults in the United Kingdom found themselves in the bracket of between 100 thousand and one million U.S. dollars as their household private wealth.

This statistic illustrates the number of millionaire (HNWI, UHNWI) and billionaire individuals in the United Kingdom (UK) in selected years from 2013 to 2018 and a forecast for 2023, by wealth bracket. The high, ultra-high and billionaire's population grew steadily throughout time, with projection to increase approximately 19 percent, 21 percent and 24 percent respectively by 2023 in comparison to 2018.

In 2023, there were estimated to be approximately 3,061 dollar millionaires among the adult population of the United Kingdom (UK), compared to 2,556 in the previous year.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The aims of this project were:
to explore prevailing beliefs and popular discourses relating to the nature, extent and 'risk' of poverty and wealth;
to investigate how such beliefs and discourses relate to people's understanding and experiences of citizenship.
Main Topics:

The dataset includes two sets of files:
1. Anonymised transcripts from discursive interviews with 76 working adults. Interview transcripts are complete except for the deletion of specific references to names and places as required for the protection of the anonymity of respondents, and data provided 'off the record' before or after the tape-recording of the interviews. The interviews covered: attitudes to wealth and poverty, citizenship rights and responsibilities, income gap between rich and poor, taxation, welfare benefits and charity; newspaper readership, radio listening and television viewing; demographic details; satisfaction/dissatisfaction with quality of life.
2. A simple database describing news items extracted during a newspaper monitoring exercise conducted contemporaneously with the above mentioned interviews. The items are identified according to three main themes - poverty, wealth and citizenship. The database is a coded summary record - please see documentation for further details.