One in 10 (11%) new equity release customers have listed using funds for holidays as their main reasons for borrowing.

In analysis of its Q1 data, the lifetime mortgage lender highlighted the range of purposes and circumstances that are being served by modern later life lending.

The most popular reason for equity release on a year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter basis at Pure Retirement is home improvements (25%) and paying off debts and mortgages (21%).

However, the figure for the latter is the lowest it has been on both a yearly and quarterly basis.

Holidays were the third most popular reason, with gifting being listed as the fourth most common answer.

A further 9% stated that using their funds to purchase a car was the main reason for releasing equity.

The lender has also highlighted that this analysis points towards stability, with the top five reasons for releasing funds remained unchanged in the last 12 months.

For lumpsum applicants in isolation, paying off debts and mortgages (26%) was the most common reason, with home improvements and gifting also being cited.

Pure Retirement stated that drawdown customers favour more aspirational and lifestyle-orientated uses, with just 16% of applicants primarily using release for paying off debts and mortgages.

It was found that 14% of these customers used their drawdown funds for holidays.

Chief executive officer at Pure Retirement, Paul Carter, said: "These latest figures highlight the way that lifetime mortgages continue to cater for a diverse range of needs and audiences, and also underlines the importance of offering both lumpsum and drawdown options, given they’re effective solutions for people for very different reasons.

"We don’t underestimate the importance of monitoring and understanding key customer trends, and look forward to continuing to use these sorts of findings to shape our product offering going forward."

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