Three quarters of people may find themselves selling their home to pay for care

Up to three quarters of people who go into residential care might have to sell their home to pay for it, according to a poll commissioned by NFU Mutual. The research shows that more than a million families have been forced to sell their home in just five years to pay for residential care costs. Currently in England, anyone with assets, including their home, worth more than £23,250 receives no financial support for social care. Reforms in the social care system, announced earlier this year, will see this amount rise to £118,000 in 2016 and the upcoming changes will also see the introduction of a cap of £72,000 to a person's contribution to their own social care costs. Commenting on the figures, The Alzheimer's Society, said: "A person can find themselves paying tens of thousands of pounds a year for their care, just because the disease they have happens to be dementia. It's sadly not surprising to see more than one million families selling their home within five years." September 9, 2013