Pure Retirement Profiles the Average New Female Lifetime Mortgage Customer for International Women’s Day

06 March 2025

To mark International Women’s Day and its 2025 theme of ‘Accelerate Action’ in regard to gender equality, leading lifetime mortgage lender Pure Retirement has shared its data to widen understanding of what a modern, single life applicant woman looks like within the equity release space. In 2024, 67% of the lender’s single life applicants, were women up from 64% in 2023.

Property trends

Property trends have remained remarkably stable year-on-year, and analysis found that 38% of new business among single women in 2024 came from owners of properties valued at between £250,000 and £399,000, with another 15% coming from owners of homes valued at between £400,000 and £549,000. Additionally, 3% of business among female single life applicants came from owners of £1m+ properties.

This compared to 32% of male single applicants being owners of properties valued between £250,000 and £399,000, and 14% coming from owners of homes valued at between £400,000 and £549,000. 4% of new single male customers, meanwhile, were owners of £1m+ properties.

Plan preferences and marital status

55% of single women preferred drawdown plans over lumpsum variants, a figure which again has remained unchanged year-on-year. This was in stark contrast to single male applicants, who preferred lumpsum plans (52% in 2024, though this represents a drop from the 60% seen in 2023).

Among single women, 36% of applicants were divorced (up from 32% in 2023), while the 38% who were widowed in 2024 represents a 6% decrease from the previous year. One in five (20%) of single women were unmarried in 2024, up from 18% in 2023. This compared with 27% of single male applicants being divorced (up from 22% in 2023), 36% being unmarried (up 6% annually) and 27% being widowed (down 8% from 2023).

Loan usage

Single women are more likely than men to use funds for home improvements (26% vs 22% in 2024), and less likely to use released funds for debt and mortgage repayment (22% vs 24%). Women are also less likely than men to release funds for a car purchase (7% vs 10%), but more likely to gift to family friends (9% of women, while gifting wasn’t in men’s top five reasons). Holidays remain constant across both genders, at one in ten (10%).

Speaking of the findings, Pure’s Head of Mortgage Servicing Suzanne Latimer says: “The latest findings continue to demonstrate the differing demographic trends (and by extension differing needs) between single life male and female customers in the later life lending space. This reinforces the need to not only have a diverse range of products suitable for a wide range of circumstances, but also of the need to have holistic and adaptable customer service throughout the lifetime mortgage journey post-completion to ensure continued best outcomes for consumers, regardless of their personal circumstances.”