Home improvements continued to be the primary reason that new equity release customers took out a lifetime mortgage last year, new data from Legal & General Home Finance has shown.

More than one in two people (51%) accessing the wealth in their homes were doing so to make home improvements.

L&G suggested that customers often used their lump sum to invest in improving their home which included adaptations to make sure a property remains suitable into retirement, alongside other types of home improvements.

Analysis of English Housing Survey data, by the Centre for Ageing Better, has suggested that 91% of homes across the country do not provide basic accessibility features, which can present challenges as people age.

In addition to home improvements, customers also took out lifetime mortgages to help get their finances in order, which included debt consolidation (21%) and paying off mortgages (26%).

Customers taking additional drawdowns, however, were more likely to use the value from within their homes to help supplement their income (23%).

CEO at L&G Home Finance, Craig Brown, commented: “Property wealth can be a valuable asset and, looking at the new customers who came to us last year, we can see that home improvements continue to be the most popular use of equity release, helping people to improve rather than move.

“As we look ahead to the rest of 2024, we anticipate a renewed interest in lifetime mortgages as customers reconsider using property wealth as the market likely stabilises. It’s worth bearing in mind that house prices are still significantly higher than pre-pandemic figures – 18% up from the end of 2019 – so property still represents an important asset which homeowners are increasingly likely to draw on.”

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