BRITAIN’S richest people have seen their wealth increase by almost 30% in the past year, the highest rise since The Sunday Times Rich List began 16 years ago.

The top 1,000 have accumulated more than £200 billion between them. In the past 12 months their fortunes have increased at 15 times the current rate of inflation.

The wealth explosion is partly explained by the property boom and the return of favourable trading on the stock market, but Britain has also become a magnet for foreign billionaires attracted by its sympathetic tax regime.

Roman Abramovich, 37, the Russian tycoon who bought Chelsea football club last summer and now has homes in London’s Belgravia and West Sussex, is at number one on the list — and by a long way.

With a fortune put at £7.5 billion, his wealth is increasing at a rate of £441.2m a year, equivalent to more than £50,000 an hour. “He is not a bean counter,” said his spokesman in Moscow last week. “He figures out how much he is worth from what you guys say he is worth.”

The annual list, the definitive guide to wealth in Britain and Ireland, which is published today, is a triumph this year for the nouveau riche. Philip Green, 52, the high street retailer, and Lakshmi Mittal, 53, the steel magnate, are at number four and five respectively. Green’s fortune has doubled; Mittal’s has nearly trebled.

Abramovich’s arrival demotes the Duke of Westminster, 52, and his £5 billion property empire to second place. The aristocracy are sliding down the list as self-made millionaires eclipse them. The fortunes of more than one in four entries come from property, land and housebuilding, reinforcing the belief that bricks and mortar are better than stocks and shares.

Tom Hunter, Scotland’s leading entrepreneur, emerges as Britain’s most generous man. He is announcing a £100m gift to his charitable foundation to coincide with his emergence today as the wealthiest Scottish national on the list.

Not that the super-rich are left with too little to enjoy themselves. They are being largely credited for a 100% increase in the number of super-yachts in the world. Abramovich has recently unveiled the luxury interior of his £72m motor yacht Pelorus, which has a crew of 40 and costs £7m a year to run.

Philip Beresford, who compiles the list, said: “Our millionaires are getting richer quicker than any others in the world. We have a benign period right now. We have a stable economy, relatively low inflation and interest rates, high employment, booming house prices and consumer spending, and general stability.

“And at this moment all those fortuitous circumstances have made London the boom town of the new millennium.”

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