This mirrored the data from 2025, in which 43% of applicants also cited home adaptations or improvements as the main reason for a loan.
There has been an upward trend of customers releasing equity to clear an existing mortgage this year, with 30% of applicants citing this purpose in H1 2026, up from 27% in full-year 2025.
The proportion of customers citing this reason also rose quarter-on-quarter from 27% in Q1 2026 to 32% in Q2 2026.
However, this remained below the peak seen five years ago, when almost half of customers were releasing equity to clear their mortgage.
Gifting to family accounted for 15% of applications in H1 2026, down from 19% in full-year 2025, as more customers redirect housing wealth towards clearing mortgages, consolidating debt and strengthening their overall financial position.
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Sadna Zaman, home finance proposition manager at Canada Life, said: “Home adaptations and improvements remains the most popular reason for releasing equity, with customers using lifetime mortgages to help fund changes that allow them to stay in their own home and enhance their quality of life in retirement.
“The data also shows that appetite for discretionary spending on things like holidays has cooled in the first half of this year amidst ongoing cost-of-living pressures and market uncertainty. Instead, customers have increasingly been looking to build financial resilience by consolidating debt, building an emergency fund, or clearing an existing mortgage.
“The wide variety of reasons underlines the flexibility of equity release as a solution, and the importance of careful, tailored advice. With comfort, financial security and intergenerational planning all competing, advisers have a crucial role in helping clients weigh these different priorities and show how property wealth can fit into a broader, holistic retirement strategy.”
Matt Tristram, co-founder of Loans Warehouse, said: “Canada Life’s findings make complete sense and reflect a much broader trend across the mortgage market. Homeowners are increasingly using the equity built up in their property to improve or adapt their existing home, whether that means making it suitable for later life, creating more space or carrying out essential renovations. With the cost and disruption involved in moving, improving the property you already own can often be the more attractive option.”
