Average UK Adult's Savings Fell 14% Last Year

The average UK adult has just £1,574 in savings, down 14 percent from last year, with more than a quarter having no money put aside at all, a survey claims.

The figures paint a stark picture of the atmosphere of austerity, as UK residents dip into their savings to stay afloat amid rising outgoings and decreasing disposable income.

A survey carried out by personal asset lender boro claims that the average UK resident is now "asset rich and cash poor".

The survey results claim that UK residents' total physical wealth in assets stood at £1tn between 2008 and 2010, with an average physical wealth of £40,900. The total value of UK GDP is around £1.1tn.

This represents an increase in £51bn between 2006 and 2008, which boro claims reflects an asset spending boom in the lead up to the recession.

However, figures released from the Bank of England show property assets losing worth, with mortgage approvals dropping to an eight month low and UK house prices suffering the biggest dip in the last two years.

"Physical wealth in the UK has reached incredible heights and people are continuing to spend in this area, albeit not at the same pre recession levels," said Paul Aitken, CEO of borro.

"As people's saving deposits have decreased we are seeing a nation of asset rich, cash poor adults emerge. The report findings reaffirm the trends we are witnessing at borro.

"More people are realising that they hold a wealth of assets that they can use to access finances - either to fund a business opportunity like the majority of our customers do or to cover temporary cash flow issues."

Recent revelations suggest that these "temporary cash flow issues" may be anything but, as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development warned that Britain is poised for a "double-dip" recession.

Nevertheless Aitken said the company's average loan value had increased to £5,000, with the majority of loans being against diamond jewellery, luxury watches, prestige cars and fine art.

"We have seen a huge rise in the number of high-value assets stored at our vaults and specialist storage facilities, including luxury cars such as Aston Martins and Porsches," he added.

Opinium research carried out the survey for boro using findings from a wealth and assets survey carried out in December 2011 by the Office for National Statistics and the ING Consumer Savings Monitor in January 2012.