Published on: 13th January 2020

Almost 2,000 homes per month sold to fund social care

On average, 1760 homeowners per month are being forced to sell their homes to fund their social care costs. According to research, 21,120 homes were known to be sold in 2018 with the funds being used to pay for vital care. The actual figure of homes sold to fund social care is generally acknowledged to be between 40,000 and 70,000 per year.

In comparison, only 11,800 homes were sold to fund similar care in 2000. This represents a 77% increase in family homes being sold to fund the social care crisis in the past 19 years. In 1999, the Royal Commission made recommendations and suggestions to make care-free at the point of use. However, subsequent Governments have failed to solve the problem with recent issues widening as the number of elderly people in need of social care increased whilst services and funding was cut in real terms.

There are question marks over the success of the Government's Deferred Payment Agreements (DPA) which enabled social care users to defer payments until after they died. Whilst DPAs were designed to enable more social care users to remain in their homes, the roll out of this scheme has been sporadic and inconsistent. According to a freedom of information request, of the 93 local authorities who responded, less than a third (29) had accepted all DPA applications. Worryingly, 7 local authorities had failed to set up a DPA process for the elderly constituents to use whilst 3 local authorities had rejected all DPA applications it had received. As the social care sector awaits a definitive solution to help alleviate a crisis on the verge of imploding, it is imperative that all social care users are offered the same treatment and the same opportunity to remain in their homes for as long as possible. If you are a homeowning couple then, in most cases, we can protect 50% of the family home from Care Fees Assessment between the death of the first homeowner and the death of the second homeowner.

If you would like to meet one of our Consultants and discuss any of the issues raised in this article or any other Estate Planning topic, please telephone 01732 868190 or click here.

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