Queen Elizabeth II’s glorious seventy-year reign has sadly come to an end. When she ascended to the throne in 1952 the average UK home cost just £1,891. Upon her death, the average property was worth £270,452 - an increase of 14,202% (meaning you could have bought 142 homes in 1952 for the same money as you can now)!
Back then the UK was mostly an island of renters though, with only around four million owning their own home, compared to 15 million homeowners today. Buyers in 1952 were typically paying four times the average salary for a home, compared to eight times today’s average salary now.
It’s not just property that has increased in price though; with a pint of milk costing 4p and a pint of beer costing 9p when the Princess became the Queen, times certainly have changed across the land!
Of course, that meteoric house price growth has not been linear, as the below chart shows:
Meanwhile, King Charles III will now move into the most expensive residential home in the world (Buckingham Palace, said to be worth over £1bn). If he were to oversee the same house price growth during his reign, the average UK home would be worth a fanciful £38.4m by the time his heir takes over…
It seems unlikely we’ll ever see such extravagant house price growth again (unless Sterling collapses into hyperinflation). It is also unlikely a future monarch will reach the great milestone of having a Platinum Jubilee, without a tragedy befalling the Royal family. Indeed, it could be several generations until we sing God save the Queen as part of our National Anthem, such is the lineage of the crown.
I am sure many of you will join me in the sentiment of reflecting upon and thanking the Queen for her service, whilst wishing the best to King Charles III in helping towards a prosperous future for the UK.
