The proportion of people listing home improvements as the primary reason for releasing equity on their properties is the highest it has been for 12 months, Pure Retirement has found.

Analysis by the lifetime mortgage lender found that in Q4, 25% of people took out a lifetime mortgage to make these property improvements, representing a 2% annual increase and a 4% rise quarter-on-quarter.

Despite this increase, debt and mortgage repayments (26%) continued to be the most common reason for taking out a lifetime mortgage, although this proportion dropped by 4% compared to Q3.

Holidays, cars and gifting were also listed as reasons for releasing equity, accounting for between 7% and 10% each.

Furthermore, Pure Retirement’s analysis noted that there was a noticeable change in plan type preferences on a quarterly basis. While 63% of new customers took out a new lifetime mortgage on a lump sum basis, this reduced to 51% in Q4.

Chief operating officer at Pure Retirement, Simon Hayton, said: "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.

"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."

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