Care home bills jump 25% to £33k a year

But OAP incomes stand still

CARE home costs have rocketed by a quarter in five years, figures show.

The average annual price of a residential facility is now £33,094, as combined private and state pensions stagnate and family are forced to sell homes to pay for care for the elderly.

Fees have shot up 23.7%, from £27,404 in 2012 to £33,094 now. Costs are up 9.6% in the past year alone, from £30,926 in 2016, the biggest annual rise seen. But the average pension increased just 0.5%, from £14,456 to £14,522 from 2016-17, according to the Department for Work and Pensions.

With the huge care price increases and inflation at 2.8%, this leaves a £19,382 shortfall between care costs and incomes.

Pensioners in England have to fund their own residential care if they have assets totalling more than £23,250. The dearest residential facilities are in the east of England, at an average of £40,820 a year. The North East is cheapest, at £25,636.

Prestige Nursing and Care analysed the cost of single rooms at 124 residential care homes from July 2012 to July 2017.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director of Age UK, said: “Increasing numbers of older people are having to meet the full cost of their care.

“The Government needs to grasp just how much of a crisis our care system is in.”

The Department of Health said social care is getting “an extra £2billion dedicated funding over the next three years”.

Most families would struggle to find the money to pay for relatives’ care home fees CAROLINE ABRAHAMS CHARITY DIRECTOR AT AGE UK

MAJOR CRISIS Families are struggling to pay for care £41k Average annual cost of most expensive region for care, East of England £19k Shortfall between cost of care and average income for a pensioner