The proportion of adults in families owning multiple properties has risen by 30 per cent during the 21st century alone, according to a think-tank.

Around 10.3 per cent of adults were in families with multiple property wealth in 2012-14, compared with 7.9 per cent in 2000-02, marking a 30 per cent increase, analysis by the Resolution Foundation based on Office for National Statistics figures showed.

Some 5.2 million have second homes, it said.

Combined with falls in home ownership generally, the rise of second home-owning in Britain is behind an increasing concentration of property wealth, according to the foundation, whose work aims to improve living standards for people on low to middle incomes.

In contrast to the one in 10 adults with multiple sources of property wealth, 40 per cent of adults have no property wealth at all, up from 35 per cent in 2000-02, it said.