Fear grows of selling homes to fund care

Four out of 10 people fear they will have to sell their home to fund long-term care as they get older, but the majority of people have never discussed this with their children.
By The Newsroom
Published 21st Jan 2011, 19:49 BST

About 38 per cent of people aged over 55 think they will be forced to sell their property to pay for care for themselves or their partner in the future, according to law firm Dickinson Dees.

The figure rises to 44 per cent among those aged between 35 and 54, with only 11 per cent claiming it was not at all likely that they would have to sell up to pay for care.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But despite the high number of older people who think they will have to sell their home, 32 per cent of adults aged under 55 said that inheriting their parents' property was important for their own financial stability during retirement.

Deborah Jude, a partner within the wealth management practice at Dickinson Dees, said: "Families need to break the taboo of silence on infirmity and mortality that currently leads to two generations being robbed of a pleasant retirement, replacing it with the misery of a battle to meet care costs.

"Plans need to be drawn up when people reach retirement, not once they are already drifting into infirmity and the risk of health problems."