Queen’s Jubilee – Average house prices were £1,891 in 1952

Queen’s Jubilee – Average house prices were £1,891 in 1952

11:11 AM, 26th May 2022, About 2 years ago 4

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Analysis from Key Later Life Finance ahead of the Platinum Jubilee shows house prices have increased 138 times in value during the Queen’s 70 years on the throne.

Average house prices were £1,891 in 1952 at the start of her reign and are now £260,771, an increase of 138 times.

While inflation naturally means that spending power decreases over time, it is sobering to think that today’s monthly household disposable income of £2,616 (£31,400 per annum) would have bought you a property outright during the coronation.

Will Hale, CEO at Key, said: “We’ve seen some huge changes during the course of the Queen’s reign, including rapidly increasing house prices.  While not a direct comparison due to inflation, it is incredible to think that today’s monthly average household disposable income could buy you a home at the time of the Coronation. People trying to buy houses can be excused for wishing we could go back to 1952.

“That said, the data also demonstrates the long-term strength of the housing market and the value of property wealth as part of most people’s overall assets. While nothing is certain, history suggests that investing in a home pays off over the long term and increasingly we are finding that people are choosing to capitalise on this investment.”

HOW HOUSE PRICES HAVE GROWN BETWEEN 1952 AND NOW ALL HOUSES NEW HOUSES
Coronation (1952) £1,891 £2,107
Silver Jubilee (1977) £12,689 £15,267
Golden Jubilee (2002) £103,501 £106,735
Diamond Jubilee (2012) £164,955 £175,697
Platinum Jubilee (2022) £260,771 £279,031

 


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Comments

Luke P

13:14 PM, 26th May 2022, About 2 years ago

Average earnings in 1952...£468pa (1/4 the average house price).

Today's average earnings? £29,600, which is getting on for 1/10 the average house price shown above of up to £279,031.

Beaver

14:39 PM, 26th May 2022, About 2 years ago

When the Queen came to the throne in 1952 BOE interest rates were 2.5%. They then moved up to 4% just after she became Queen. They hit 17% in the 1970s. Bank of England base rate is currently 0.75%.

They were talking about very similar issues in 1952. A lot of people not wanting to share homes with other families for example:

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1952/feb/26/the-housing-situation

Average total debt in the UK was just over £63K per household in 2021. I've no idea what it was in 1952 but I'm guessing that the figures would show that increasing household debt from 1952-2022 fuelled a higher percentage of home ownership and debt per household was lower. I think if the Bank of England rases interest rates to curb inflation a lot of people will lose their homes now.

Paul Essex

16:23 PM, 26th May 2022, About 2 years ago

In 1952 however there was expected to only be one bread winner.
So if you double today's average wage, house prices have only moved from 1:4 to 1:5 so not too much change.

Beaver

17:52 PM, 26th May 2022, About 2 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Paul Essex at 26/05/2022 - 16:23
Up to a point that's true; although not having one household member at home dramatically increases a household's costs. Childcare, food, cleaning etc. etc.

At the moment inflation is at 9%. Most of that is increasing energy cost. Anybody as old as me will remember that in the 1970s there used to be adverts on TV from the coal board encouraging us to fit "back boilers" to make the most of the coal we were burning.

My energy bill just went up like everybody else's. My principle private residence does not have an EPC and it can still burn coal. When my boiler failed 18 months ago the only smart decision was to fit a new gas condensing boiler. I also burn wood and when I burn wood what happens is that the thermostat near the solid fuel burner turns itself off and the condensing boiler continues to provide hot water. When the boiler fails apart from the replacement cost of the boiler it saves me money although there's a time cost.

In the past when I've had boiler problems I've bought the odd bag of coal (especially when we've had snow); the beauty of coal is you get so much heat from it. It warms the whole house and you can just turn the boiler off.

I was thinking about this recently because gas, oil and coal all went up in price. But my house can still burn coal and it puts out the most energy. I still have a coal bunker; the cheapest way for me to heat my house is actually to buy a load of coal.

And the cheapest way to keep household costs down would not be to have two people working; it would be to have one person working and putting coal on the fire occasionally.

Not that different to 1952 then....

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