Soaring property prices have helped to more than double household wealth during the past decade, according to new figures.

Britons' assets rose from £2.795 trillion to £6.336 trillion between the end of 1996 and last year after outstanding debt was taken into account, according to Halifax Financial Services.

The total value of people's assets was up by £4.342bn during the past 10 years, massively outstripping the £802bn rise in debt during the same period, the group said.

Unsurprisingly, soaring house prices helped drive a large part of the gain in household wealth, with increases in the value of property accounting for more than half of the gain.

At the close of 2006, Britons were sitting on housing equity worth £2.702 trillion once mortgage debt had been stripped out, 244% more than the £787bn of housing equity they had in 1996.

The 216% growth in the overall value of housing assets comfortably outstripped the 163% rise in mortgage debt in that period, the company added.

Martin Ellis, chief economist at Halifax Financial Services, said: "The financial position of households in total has strengthened substantially over the past decade.

"Whilst much has been said about the rise in debt, it is important to note that the value of households' assets has risen at a faster pace.

"Housing has played an important part in increasing wealth, but there has also been a significant rise in the value of investments in financial assets in the last 10 years."

Housing now accounts for 43% of people's total net wealth, up from just 28% in 1996, thanks to the booming property market.

This rise has been mirrored by a drop in the value of financial assets as a proportion of total wealth, with these dropping to account for 57% of all assets, down from 72% a decade earlier.

People's savings have doubled during the past decade to be worth £960bn at the end of 2006, and Halifax predicts cash holdings will break through the £1 trillion barrier by the end of this year.

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