ONS Survey

ONS stands for The Office for National Statistics, a Government body, who just released a survey of the UK’s wealth. Their survey of 31,000 households was conducted over two years (mid-2006 to mid-2008), so doesn't give any indication how the recession has hit personal wealth.
The total was calculated by adding the value of the family home against mortgage, cash, savings, possessions and pensions. It excludes business assets, and rights held to future payments, such as the state pension.
All their figures are medians, rather than means. Statisticians prefer medians, as it's the value below which half the households fall, and not distorted by a few very large numbers.

Household wealth has reached £9 trillion in the UK.
The wealthiest 10% owns 44% of the country’s wealth.
The richest 20% owns 62% of wealth.
The wealthiest 50% owns 91%.
Ergo, the poorest 50% of the UK owns just 9% of its wealth.
The poorest 10% of homes also have negative wealth.

The average wealth of households is put at £204,500, but the South-east of England has a median household wealth of £287,900. The lowest median is Scotland, with £150,600.
Married couples with children are likely to be worth £414,100  –  17 times the £24,600 value of an average single parent household.
A household headed by someone with a degree is valued at £400,200, but without qualifications, that figure is just £105,500.
By employment, households headed by the self-employed were the wealthiest, at an average of £283,200.

Of that wealth, 39% is property assets, 39% pensions, 11% cash, and 11% physical wealth – such as cars and antiques.
Dominant source of wealth shifts as your wealth increases. Physical assets are the main asset for the poor, housing for those in the middle class, and pensions are most important for the wealthiest 10%.

PENSIONS
Only 57% of people have any private pension provision.
4 out of 10 men and 3 out of 10 women pay into a private pension, the value of that pension averages £39,300 for men and £29,000 for women.
The median amount of pension is just £4,900 across all ages, and peaks at £32,900 for those aged 55-64.
4 out of 10 people said they would rather have a good standard of living today, than save for their retirement.
25% of people expect to pay for their retirement by selling their house and moving to a smaller one or to a cheaper area.

PROPERTY
The survey suggests that households are roughly evenly split – 33% own their home outright, 33% have a mortgage and 33% rent. 3% of households own a property overseas, and 6% own a second home in the UK.
Among homeowners, the average equity is £150,000. The greatest property wealth is in London, where an average family has £220,000 sunk in their home.

SAVINGS & DEBT
62% of UK households have a savings account, but 50% have less than £3,500 in theirs and 25% have less than £500.
In the South-east of England, a typical household has £10,500 in cash.
Median amounts held in savings and current accounts were respectively £800 and £3,500.
These amounts are cancelled out by non-mortgage borrowing, which averages £3,400 across all households, but is £7,200 among those with any debt.

25% of households have negligible, zero or negative financial wealth.
35% of households have never saved any money at all.
48% of households have some outstanding unsecured borrowing.
10% of households are in arrears for at least one commitment.

25-34 year olds are most likely to have racked up unsecured debt, with 68% of this group in this position; their debts average £3,700 each.

POSSESSIONS
Families assessed their possessions' value at on average £29,900.
Household goods, (furniture, plasma televisions, clothes, etc.) came to about £25,000 for an average family.
The other £4,900 was made up from the value of cars and bicycles.
One in eight homes owned paintings, antiques or other valuables worth typically £5,000.
One in 20 drivers has a personalised number plate, typically reckoned to be worth £500.

Source: Daily Mail