Britons have nearly four times as much money in savings and equity in their homes as they owe through debt, new research shows.

People's homes are collectively worth £4.3 trillion, and there is currently also £820bn set aside in savings accounts, despite a decline in the amount of disposable income people are putting away for a rainy day, according to the study.

The Alliance & Leicester report shows the value of people's assets dwarfs the £1.1 trillion they owe in mortgages and the £200bn debt they have racked up on credit cards, loans and overdrafts.

The total value of assets that Britons hold is further boosted when you take into account the £1.8 trillion they have in pension funds and property investments.

But the group found that personal wealth is distributed unevenly across the UK.

It found that 51% of assets, which it defines as the value of people's homes and savings minus money owed on mortgages and other debt, are owned by people living south of Watford, despite this area accounting for only 39% of households.

People living in London, the South East and the South West are collectively worth £2 trillion, and their high level of wealth is not just attributable to high house prices, as they also hold 46% of the UK's savings.

By contrast people in Scotland and Wales account for only 10.6% of the UK's wealth, despite making up 14.2% of all households.

Overall, the research found that the richest half of the population have savings averaging £62,283, while the poorest half have only £317 on average.

Three out of 10 households have no savings at all, while 42% have saved between £1 and £10,000.

The group found that getting on the property ladder made a big difference to people's personal wealth, with people tending to have £3 in housing equity for every £1 they have in savings.

Ewan Edwards, head of savings and investments at Alliance & Leicester, said: "Britons are increasingly losing the savings habit. On average we are saving just 2.1% of our disposable income, compared to 6% on average over the last 10 years, itself low by historic standards."

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