3,000 victims of home snatchers: Record numbers of elderly are forced to sell their homes to pay for care

Published 18th Dec 2009

The scale of Labour’s betrayal of pensioners was laid bare tonight as it emerged that every year at least 3,000 elderly people are forced to sell their homes to pay for residential care.

The scandal of Britain’s crumbling care system has reached such proportions that a third of all those paying the cost of their care end up without their house.

Critics say it is appalling that, after more than a decade of Labour promises, a record number of people who have saved all their lives are still having to put their houses up for sale, while those who have squandered their money get free care.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb, who uncovered the figures, said: ‘This Government’s treatment of older people is its shameful legacy.

‘Ministers have turned their backs on thousands of older people who are forced to sell their homes each year to pay for the costs of care.

‘We need a complete overhaul of the current unfair system so that people’s homes are no longer considered fair game to cover care bills.

‘Whoever wins the next election cannot avoid the fact that we’re facing a crisis in funding for care. What we need is a long-term solution where the state pays its fair share and individuals are encouraged to save for later life.’

As part of its Dignity for the Elderly campaign, the Daily Mail has been highlighting the scandal of hard-working elderly people being forced to sell their homes to pay for care despite having paid taxes all their lives.

Present rules state that those with assets of more than £23,500 – including their property – must contribute to the cost of residential care if they need it in their later years. It means thousands have to sell up.

But for those whose assets are less than this, the council will stump up the full cost of care.

For 12 years, Labour has been promising to tackle the issue. At his party’s conference in 1997, Tony Blair said: ‘I don’t want a country where the only way pensioners can get long-term care is by selling their home.’

But the new figures, compiled by the House of Commons library for Mr Lamb based on surveys by healthcare analysts Laing & Buisson, show that the problem is worse than ever.

As of April 2009, there were 380,000 people in care homes, of whom 48,000 had been forced to sell their homes to pay their costs. This is 23 per cent higher than the 39,000 sellers in April 2005. Last year the figure was 45,000.

The rise of 3,000 over the last year represents at least eight people a day or 57 a week. However the number who sold up in 2009 is bound to be even higher than 3,000 because some of the 45,000 from the previous year will have died.

Of the other residents of care homes in 2009, 107,000 had to contribute towards care costs but did not have to sell their home, and 223,000 got their care completely free.

The figures show that the number forced to contribute towards the cost of care has been rising in recent years: up 21 per cent from 128,000 in 2005 to 155,000 this year.

It means that in April 2009, almost a third of all those asked to contribute actually had to sell up completely.

Andrew Harrop, policy director of Age Concern, said: ‘Selling homes to pay for care is just one of the many problems of our crumbling care system.

'We need comprehensive reforms that improve the funding of the system and the quality of care provided for all those who need it.

‘While the number of people selling their homes to pay for their care is increasing, people should also be aware that there may be other options available to them.

All local authorities should offer deferred payment schemes to enable older people to stay in their homes.’

Next year, the annual average cost of residential care will be £26,000. Both major parties have proposed reforms to help fund residential care.

Health Secretary Andy Burnham unveiled a Green Paper which proposed people pay £20,000 to join an insurance scheme to meet the costs of their personal care, whether in their own house or in a care home.

The Tories hit back with an £8,000 insurance scheme. However this would pay only for residential care and would not allow people to stay in their own house with helpers. The Liberal Democrats want an all-party commission to work out an independent solution for the future of personal care.

Care services minister Phil Hope said: ‘Schemes are already in place to help people avoid having to sell their homes in their lifetime to pay for residential care.

‘But we don’t find it acceptable that people have to run down their life savings to pay for care. That is why we are overhauling the system and creating a National Care Service, which will offer a simpler, fairer and more affordable system for everyone. More detailed plans will be set out early in the New Year.’

But no sooner had the former greengrocer from Margate moved in than her daughter was landed with a huge bill from Kent County Council.

Pauline Turner was told that because her 87-year-old mother had assets of more than £23,500, she would have to meet the £1,424.76 per month cost in full.

Her mother had little cash which meant she would have to sell her home. The bungalow went on the market for £175,000 but because of the recession the family had to accept £140,000.

Straight away, £10,000 in arrears had to be handed to the council. To add insult to injury, Mrs Kennedy’s pension credit of £50 a week was stopped because she now had money from the sale of her house.

Last night Mrs Turner, a 65-year-old pregnancy and post-abortion counsellor, said she was being ‘harassed’ by council officials making sure she was not spending the money raised from her mother’s house, and threatening legal action if she did.

‘Mum was a bright lady who had worked hard all her life,’ she said. ‘She used to do voluntary work at the very care home where she is now, doing bingo and things.

‘What has happened had left me spitting bullets. If she knew she had had to sell her home and was unable to leave an inheritance, she would be heartbroken.’

Mrs Kennedy’s husband Douglas died ten years ago. She has two grandsons and two great-grandchildren.

Mrs Turner said: ‘Mum and Dad worked hard all their lives and went without in order to buy their own home, which in those days was very hard to do.

‘I would love to sit down with Andy Burnham so he can explain to me why this is happening, because I have written to him and never got a satisfactory answer.’

She said the state had created an ‘appalling boundary’ where nursing care is free but social care is means tested ‘at the equivalent of a 100 per cent tax rate’.

‘It seems that NHS managers have a vested interest in offloading patients into social care to make things cheaper,’ she said.

‘Why should those of us who have paid tax and national insurance all our lives be treated like this?’

Source: ' Daily Mail '

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