Cost of living in a care home jumps 11% to £46k a year

The annual cost of living in a care home in the UK’s largest cities has risen by 11 per cent to an average of nearly £46,000, new research shows.

That doesn’t include the cost of nursing, which typically adds another 20 percent to the bill, although it could be more depending on the amount of personal care required, say for someone with dementia.

The increase in average fees is due to higher staff, food and energy costs over the past year, and in some cases the struggle to remain financially viable, according to the study from the UK Care Guide website.

Some individual care homes had increased costs by more than 30 percent to survive, and examples of cost-cutting included reducing residents’ food options, it found.

Many care homes expect healthcare costs to rise again in the coming year as living wages will rise by almost 10 per cent to £10.42 an hour from April.

Brighton saw the largest annual cost increase of 15 per cent to around £53,200, while homes in Nottingham and Leeds reported a 14 per cent increase in average costs to £40,900 and £41,400 respectively.

Fees were generally highest in London, where average costs increased by 8 per cent to £57,900, and lowest in Cardiff, where average costs increased by 11 per cent to £36,000.

Belfast was not included in the study because insufficient data were available.

UK Care Guide, which is owned by People-tech, surveyed a total of 168 mid to premium care facilities that take in privately funded residents and have a minimum of 25 beds.

Reforms to how people should pay for care are currently on hold after the government delayed the launch of a lifelong care spending cap until autumn 2025.

The plan would introduce an £86,000 cap on how much an individual has to spend on care – but based on some, not all, of their private contributions rather than the total cost – and raise the threshold to receive support from £23,250 to £ 100,000.

Meanwhile, reluctance to enter a care home in later life has increased among the elderly, with most carers preferring to come to their own homes, according to separate recent research.

UK Care Guide found that homes are finding it difficult to recruit and retain staff as many are paying at living wage levels and people are leaving for what are seen as less stressful retail and hospitality jobs.

Meanwhile, all homes have seen significant increases in food bills, and efficiency measures include reducing resident menu options and bulk purchases in partnership with other local care homes.

In terms of energy costs, care homes aim for a temperature of around 20 degrees in common and residential areas, but this is necessarily more expensive.

William Jackson, from UK Care Guide, says: ‘While it’s not surprising that the cost of running a care home has risen, the real concern is the significant increase in costs residents and their families are now facing, as well as the increases what they have to deal with. face in the coming years.

And this isn’t going to get any better any time soon. The healthcare sector appears to be unable to escape the ongoing recruitment struggles, while the rise in living wages from April and the urgent need to raise staff wages to get more people into healthcare will only exacerbate this.

“The majority of care homes we surveyed warned that they are likely to incur higher costs again this year, so unfortunately those needing a care home will almost certainly pay more in the coming years.

“Over the past year, we’ve seen an increase in people viewing live-in care as an alternative to residential care.”