UK homeowners are increasingly using equity release to stabilise household finances, according to new first-party analysis from Key Group covering more than 1,000 customer cases agreed between Q2 2024 and Q1 2025.
Over the period, the share of new plans taken primarily to repay an existing mortgage rose from 36% to 63%, signalling what the firm describes as a marked shift in priorities.
The data, which covers cases completed up to 31st March 2025, shows that discretionary uses of equity release have fallen sharply.
Home improvements dropped from 14% to 5%, property purchases from 7.9% to below 2%, and vehicle purchases from 7.7% to 3.9%.
Gifting fluctuated across the year, rising from 5.6% to 12.4% before easing back to 9.1%, while allocations for other debts climbed from 2.7% to 9.1% and holidays increased from 3.2% to 7.6%.
Rachel East, senior director of later life advice at Key Equity Release, said: “Homeowners appear to be taking a pragmatic, two-part approach: using equity release first to secure essentials and ease immediate financial strain, while still setting aside modest sums for holidays, family gifts and other quality-of-life spending. It’s a shift from optional projects toward careful prioritisation.”
The analysis also highlights strong regional variation, with London homeowners releasing an average of £145,471 per plan in 2025 – more than double the UK regional average and £27,000 higher than the previous year.
The figures underline how the capital’s property values continue to drive the highest equity withdrawals among Key customers.
Allocation behaviour suggests many customers are balancing multiple financial priorities. Around a third (31.6%) used their plan for a single purpose, most often mortgage repayment or debt consolidation, while 32.7% divided funds across two purposes, 21.6% across three, and 9.5% across four or more.
The typical equity release customer is now 69 years old, with women making up the majority of single applicants. Across all cases, 59% were joint applications and 41% single.
The average property value stood at £319,809, with an initial loan-to-value of around 19%.
Of the plans completed, 1,540 were drawdown products and 946 were lump sum, though the average drawdown facility size has fallen, suggesting larger initial withdrawals and smaller contingency facilities.
