New equity release report shows a shift away from debt repayment towards property improvements
More customers are drawing down equity primarily to fund home improvements, with usage at its highest level for a year in the final quarter of 2025, lifetime mortgage lender Pure Retirement has reported.
In Q4 2025, one in four borrowers (25%) who completed a lifetime mortgage with the lender said their main purpose was to improve their property. This marked a two percentage point increase compared with the same period in 2024 and a four percentage point rise on Q3 2025.
Debt consolidation and mortgage repayment remained the most common primary reason for taking out a lifetime mortgage. However, this category accounted for 26% of cases in Q4, down four percentage points from the previous quarter. Holidays, vehicle purchases and gifting continued to make up the rest of the top five stated uses, each representing between 7% and 10% of cases.
Pure Retirement also highlighted changes in customer demographics over the quarter. Borrowers aged over 70 represented 24% of its new business in Q4 2025, a rise of six percentage points on both a quarterly and annual basis.
The firm reported a notable shift in product selection as well. In Q3 2025, 63% of new customers opted for lump-sum lifetime mortgages. By Q4 2025, this had moved back towards balance, with 51% of completions on a lump-sum basis – a pattern closer to that seen in Q4 2024.
The profile of single life borrowers also evolved. Among these applicants, women accounted for 65% of new customers in Q4 2025, the highest proportion recorded by the lender over the past 12 months. This share was two percentage points higher than in Q4 2024 and seven percentage points higher than in Q3 2025.
Commenting on the findings, Simon Hayton (pictured right), chief operating officer at Pure Retirement, underlined the pace of change in the later life lending market.
“The shifts in customer profiles we’ve seen in a relatively short period of time shows the dynamic and ever-changing nature of the people benefitting from lifetime mortgages as a tool to reach their financial goals in later life,” he said.
“With noticeable movement on a number of demographic markers, this data shows the importance of keeping on top of emerging trends and being able to respond to them in an agile fashion to meet consumer needs.
“In addition to using data to shape our own offering, we hope that sharing these findings will also aid in ensuring the later life sector remains a relevant and consumer-focused part of the financial services landscape.”
For mortgage advisers active in the later-life segment, the figures highlight evolving customer priorities, shifts in age distribution and a rebalancing of product preference between lump-sum and other structures, all of which may influence suitability assessments and recommendations.
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