The poor get poorer while the rich stay rich

30 June 2011

The most recent figures from Britain's Property Rich List 2011 show that the North-South property divide is widening.

The figures, released by zoopla.co.uk, showed a phenomenal difference between average house prices in some northern streets compared to their southern counterparts.

In fact, all those listed as the top 10 highest value streets were in London, whereas all in the lowest value were situated in the North.

The average price for a house at Kensington Palace Gardens, London, stood at £19,262,319, while the average price for a home on Merryfield court, Skegness was just £30,873.

Nick Leeming, business development director at zoopla.co.uk, said: "Despite the recent property market uncertainty, Brits remain obsessed with the value of their home as well as those of their neighbours, friends and family.

"This year's Property Rich List shows an ever-widening North-South divide and, whilst house prices in some of the most expensive areas of the country have fallen a little over the past 12 months, they have held up far better than in many of the less expensive areas."

Britain is now home to 220, 131 property millionaires, down from 223,119, according to the list. Unsurprisingly, London topped the list as having the most ‘million pound streets', at 2,290.

Surrey, which continues to attract commuters, boasted 89 of the streets in Guildford and 78 in Cobham.

However, despite the widening gap, some experts suggest that investments in northern property could be fruitful, particularly in the commercial sector.

At a speech given to some of Yorkshire's most elite businesspeople at the launch of the Yorkshire Post Business club recently, Richard Tuffy, a partner at Goldman Sachs, suggested that the North of England could in fact be a driving force in economic recovery.

"The North of England in general has to be the engine of recovery. For too long, the North has been seen as the handicap, the thing that's dragging the rest of the UK economy down and as a passionate advocate of the North, I think Yorkshire and the manufacturing base here should play a key part in that," he said.