A new study by Legal & General and economics consultancy firm CEBR, has reported that in Great Britain, £847 billion of our net wealth as a nation is stored in the homes of British families, which is equivalent to 14% of total household wealth.
This compares to 60% of household wealth which is locked in property and 22% stored as financial wealth.
Kevin Roberts, broker director at Legal & General, said: “Brits are keeping significant amounts of wealth within the household and this trend looks set to continue in future. There are opportunities for brokers to help clients understand the precise value of their contents and possessions and indeed to protect those assets.”
The older the household, the more wealth will be stored in the home – those aged 60 to 74 had the highest home content value: 10% of this age group had home contents which were worth more than £75,000. People aged 17-29 had the lowest-valued home contents on average –73% of these households have contents worth less than £20,000.
Roberts said: “We expect older householders to have accumulated more wealth and valuables – and our Home Truths research bears this out. With older people increasingly comfortable and engaged with the internet, brokers can’t assume that the role of face-to-face advice is sacrosanct among this group of people. However, it’s likely that brokers will be able to add significant value to this marketplace and should focus their efforts accordingly.”
The value of home contents was the lowest amongst those who are renting – 20% have home contents worth less then £5,000. Those owning their property outright, or who bought their property with a mortgage, have the highest levels of home content value – 37% of Brits owning outright (and 24% of those owning with a mortgage) have home contents valued between £40,000 and £74,999.
56% of people between the ages of 18 and 59 have both building and home contents insurance. However, 13% in this age group have neither building nor home insurance coverage. Meanwhile 12% have home contents insurance only and 3% have only buildings insurance.