While Asos co-founder Nick Beighton's death in Thailand dominates today's headlines, it serves as a stark reminder of how Britain's economy has split into winners and losers over the past half-decade. Property owners have watched their wealth soar while retail empires crumbled.

In 2017, when online fashion was still king and Asos shares traded near their peak, the average house price stood at £1.32 million. Fast-forward to 2021, and that same house is worth £1.46 million. That's an extra £138,000 in wealth, created simply by owning bricks and mortar. (Source: Office for National Statistics, House prices by local authority)

The timeline tells the story of two Britains. In 2018, house prices climbed to £1.34 million, up £18 million from the year before. Property was already pulling ahead of everything else. By 2019, prices had actually dipped slightly to £1.33 million, offering a brief moment when non-owners might have caught up.

Then 2020 changed everything. The pandemic year saw house prices jump to £1.37 million, a £40 million leap that coincided with stamp duty holidays and remote working. While high street retailers like Asos faced lockdown chaos and changing shopping habits, homeowners enjoyed the biggest single-year wealth transfer in recent memory.

The 2021 figures show the final acceleration: prices hit £1.46 million, adding another £92 million to the average property value. That 6.7% year-on-year rise came precisely as fashion retailers struggled with supply chains, inflation, and customers tightening their belts.

This isn't just about numbers. It's about who gets richer in modern Britain. Between 2017 and 2021, someone who owned an average-priced house gained £138,000 in wealth without lifting a finger. Meanwhile, retail workers faced redundancies, store closures, and wage freezes as their industry contracted.

The contrast couldn't be sharper. Property wealth is passive, accumulating automatically for those lucky enough to own. Retail wealth requires constant innovation, customer satisfaction, and adaptation to changing markets. When economic storms hit, property owners shelter behind rising values while entrepreneurs and employees face the full force.

Beighton co-founded Asos during an era when online retail looked unstoppable. But even the most successful fashion empires couldn't compete with the wealth-generating power of simply owning a house in Britain. His story, tragic as it is, reflects a broader economic truth: in the 2020s, property trumped almost every other investment.