CARE home bills are rising at their fastest rate on record; figures showed yesterday.
Annual costs for a care home place jumped 9.6 percent this year – nearly double last year’s 5.2 percent rise.
The average price paid by a pensioner is now a staggering £33,094, up £2,978 on the typical £30,926 paid in 2016.
Care Home Costs
The leap in costs has also outpaced the growth in pensioners’ incomes over a more extended period, according to the six-year study in the UK by homecare provider Prestige Nursing + Care.
Since 2012, the cost of the average care home has risen by 23.7 percent from £27,404 (an increase of £6,500), while the average pensioner’s income has increased by 9.9 percent from £13,208 (an increase of £1,314).
The average pensioner’s income would now pay for approximately just five months of care – despite research from Saga showing the average stay in a residential home is 2.5 years, at the cost of £84,760.
In total, the annual cost of a care home now equates to 133.5 percent of the average pensioner’s income, says the study, and many are left with no choice but to sell their homes to pay for their care.
