The research by PricewaterhouseCoopers in today’s Independent delivers some more figures for the credit crunch scrapbook:
“The total value of shares and homes owned by British households has fallen from £6.8trn in 2007 to £4.9trn now – a decline of £1.9trn, or 28 per cent, the PwC figures show. During the credit crunch, houses have lost 20 per cent of their value (or £800bn) and equities 40 per cent (or £1.1trn). Thus, each adult Briton has lost on average £17,000 from the property slump and a further £23,000 in the value of shares, held either directly or indirectly though pension plans. The losses are likely to rise, and there could be a further fall of about 15 to 20 per cent in property values.”
When you put this alongside the battered public finances, rising unemployment (which is expected to officially top 2 million today), the struggles of businesses big and small, and countless other grim indicators, it suggests that recovery is going to be a prolonged struggle, at best.
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