Almost one in five (19%) completed new initial equity release advances in the first quarter of the year came from owners of properties priced at £550,000 or more, Pure Retirement has found.

In research by the retirement firm, it was found that 8% of equity releases came from between the £550,000-£699,000 valuation banding alone.

Furthermore, an additional one in 25 (4%) of initial advance completions came from those with properties of at least £1m.

The analysis comes as Pure Retirement highlighted the appeal of equity release products among owners of high properties, who are in turn using the released fund or "more aspirational" reasons, rather than needs-based.

Looking at the fund usage among those with a property value of at least £550,000, Pure Retirement found that 22% of them primarily used released fund s for home improvement, with 19% using them to repay debts and mortgages.

This is a reduction of 3% and 2% respectively compared to overall statistics across all property value bandings.

A further 15% were using released funds for holidays, which is 4% higher than across all property bandings, while 11% used housing equity to purchase cars, marking a 2% increase on overall property banding figures.

Chief executive officer at Pure Retirement, Paul Carter, said: "These latest figures only serve to underline the way that equity release has become an increasingly mainstream tool that suits a wide variety of circumstances and needs – irrespective of whether that’s aspirational or needs-based borrowing, or where in the housing value spectrum.

"It confirms the need for flexible products that can cater for a diverse audience, and we look forward to continue to help using findings such as this to shape our future thinking and product offering to deliver best outcomes and effective solutions for those exploring later life lending."

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