Half of consumers aged 55-74 now expect any property they own to be taken into consideration by their adviser when retirement planning, according to new research.

5.8m UK adults (11%) are planning to use the value of their home to help fund retirement according to the latest LV= Wealth and Wellbeing Monitor report.

Other than pensions (63%) and savings and investments (65%), property (50%) was the most important asset listed by consumers aged 55-74 for their adviser to consider as part of their retirement planning, according to the quarterly survey of over 4,000 UK consumers.

Just under a third (32%) said they expect their adviser to take their partner’s assets into consideration.

A quarter (24%) said they do not know what assets their financial adviser should take into consideration when planning their retirement finances.

The survey also asked UK homeowners whether they would consider using equity release.

Nearly half of those surveyed (45%) said they would consider using equity release to pay for home improvements (17%), a care worker (16%), home repairs (15%), to increase retirement income (15%) or help family financially (12%).

According to the Equity Release Council, annual lending to new and existing customers totalled £3.89bn in 2020, up from £945m in 2009.

LV= surveyed 4,000 nationally representative UK adults via an online omnibus conducted by Opinium in March 2021.