Households are being slapped with care home costs of more than £65,000 a year with families “forced into” using their savings to cover the expense, a report has found.
LaingBuisson published new research this week which found the average weekly fee for a residential care home increased to £949 in 2023/24, which is up 19 per cent from 2021/22.
According to the healthcare data provider’s latest edition of Care Homes for Older People, the average cost for a nursing home bend jumped to £1,267 a week over the same period.
This means that the average residential and nursing care home resident will fork over £49,348 and £65,884 a year, respectively.
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Care home costs have risen by nearly 20 per cent in the last year
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Experts have cited multiple contributing factors to this hike which include inflation, the war in Ukraine and successive rate rises to the National Living Wage.
The average weekly fee paid by councils for nursing care in 2023/24 is estimated to be £1,146, while private-pay clients pay £1,409.
According to LaingBuisson, private-pay clients pay £308 a week more for residential care that councils do.
Research found the North East has the lowest average weekly fee for nursing care at £1,073, and the North West has the lowest for residential care at £799 per week.
Analysts found that the most expensive average fees can be found in the South East, where people may find themselves paying £1,152 per week for residential and £1,457 for nursing care.
There is a growing disparity between the amount private individuals and councils pay for support which has sparked concerns older Britons are subsiding the cost of care by local authorities.
Councils use their greater bargaining power to help in driving down fee rates for public-pay clients.
William Laing, the report’s author and founder of LaingBuisson, warned that older households have been forced to “dip into their savings” to cover the cost of a comfortable retirement.
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Households have been forced to "dip into their savings" to cover cost of care
GETTYAccording to the healthcare expert, staffing accounts for 70 per cent of care home costs which have been hiked due to successive National Living Wage rate increases.
He said: “Set alongside inflationary pressure leading to surging costs for all businesses, it is no surprise to see prices rising across the country.
“The hidden story is that those paying for their own care are effectively subsidising the cost of care paid for by local authorities. Using their larger purchasing power, local authorities can drive prices down in negotiation, but this may have resulted in providers being forced to charge more elsewhere.
“With social care reform a topic that neither the Conservatives nor Labour Party seemingly wants to tackle ahead of a general election, it appears likely that more and more people will be forced into meeting the cost of care from their savings.”