With the number of British remortgagers still escalating, Abbey has found that many homeowners are switching mortgage lenders for lifestyle rather than financial reasons.
Recently released figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that almost as many people are now taking out mortgages on existing properties as are using them to finance property purchases.
Almost half of homeowners have remortgaged their homes in the last five years, Abbey said.
Two thirds of them have remortgaged in order to improve their repayment costs, but many have taken out new mortgage for lifestyle reasons.
"More and more people are now remortgaging to help them change their lifestyle or career and to own their own home quicker, not just to reduce their monthly repayments," said Gary Hockey-Morley, Abbey's director of mortgages.
The bank found that, after reducing monthly payments, one of the most common reasons to remortgage was to raise money, while one person in 12 switched lenders to move to a mortgage with different characteristics (such as a fixed rate or flexible payments).
One homeowner in 20 remortgaged to buy a new property, while five per cent used the money to buy a car.
Abbey also discovered that more than one mortgage holder in 25 took out a new loan to finance a new business or give up work before changing career or starting a family.
