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18th September 2018
It’s one of the scary things about growing old, isn’t it? We’re all living longer, thanks to medical science but does that mean more of us are going to end up in a care home, struggling to find the means to pay for it?
A year in a care home can cost more than £50,000. This means some families are accumulating huge bills. If you have assets of more than £23,250 (slightly more in Scotland and Wales), the law states that you must fund all you care costs yourself, without any help from the Local Authority. This figure includes property, though there are a limited number of scenarios where your home is disregarded from the calculation. Therefore, many families may not be eligible for any support.
As a result, many families are finding themselves facing a significant gap when it comes to funding care for their loved ones. This added financial burden comes at what can often be a sad and stressful time anyway. Most people would prefer to stay in their own home for as long as possible but need to make home improvements and adapt the property to their needs as they grow older. Installing a wet room or moving a bathroom downstairs, for example, can often be practical solutions.
One way some families are funding the cost of these improvements or the cost of care is through the value of their home; equity release or a lifetime mortgage, as it is sometimes known. This allows anyone over 55 to borrow against the value of their home. You can draw money to about 50% of your property’s value and there are no monthly repayments. The interest rolls up at a compound rate until the person borrowing the amount dies. To protect you, the total debt can never exceed the value of your home and will be cleared from the eventual sale of the property.
It’s worth noting that interest rates tend to be higher than standard mortgages but there are no affordability checks or repayment plans. You can decide whether you take the money as a lump sum or in stages.
Understanding what funding will be provided and what families have to fund themselves is not straightforward, equity release may be useful in some circumstances, but specialist advice should always be sought.
Source:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/equity-release/mortgages/can-use-equity-release-pay-care/
Reference – BL034 – Sep – 18
