Care home fees ‘may soar by 40pc’

FAMILIES are heading for a cost of care crisis this winter as nursing homes pass on rising energy and food prices alongside staff wage increases.

Typical annual fees could soon rise by 40 pc from around £25,000 to £35,000 outside London and from £28,575 to £40,000 in the capital, warns later-life website the UK Care Guide.

Founder Saq Hussain says smaller care homes are particularly at risk if mortgage costs also continue to increase.

This is because many smaller care homes are still repaying a mortgage and the cost will be quickly passed on to their elderly residents, Mr Hussain warns.

The predicted rise comes amid reports that the Government could delay for a year the promised social care cap that will limit the amount anyone has to pay for their care to £86,000.

The threshold for people to be eligible to receive support is also expected to rise from £23,250 to £100,000.

But the reforms, due to be introduced in October 2023, could be postponed until 2024.

This delay could add £26,000 to the average amount someone spends on care, according to calculations for Money Mail by Aegon. The pension and investment firm estimates it will soon cost £104,280 for the average stay of 130 weeks.

Experts warn tens of thousands more people would see their savings wiped out, or be forced to sell their home to pay for care because of the delay — something former Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to ‘fix’.

Around three million older people basing their finances around the cap could see their plans wrecked.

Stephen Lowe, of retirement specialist Just Group, says: ‘Those who have had no choice but to put care in place for loved ones are now dealing with the ticking meter of care fees.’

Professor Martin Green, the chief executive of charity Care England, says: ‘There is a crisis in the care sector, with costs spiralling out of control.

‘Unless we get a long-term funding solution, we’ll see many services close, placing such a burden on the NHS that it will be brought to its knees.’