Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris
Because nursing care in a residential home is not always permanent. It can be short or medium term after a prolonged hospital stay. It is not unheard of for an individual to be able to return home.
Furthermore living arrangements can be complex, as can house ownership. Elderly siblings sometimes live together, and sometimes elderly parents and children do. The individual who does not require nursing care may have part-ownership of the house or may simply not have anywhere else to go.
Putting a charge on the property against its eventual sale avoids a lot of potential complications, including unpleasant local newspaper stories about councils turning often quite vulnerable people out of their homes in order to pay for its owner’s care.
(Edit) it’s also the case that the capital tied up in the house will most likely increase its value in real terms, whereas if it were liquidated and then banked its value would at best keep pace with inflation but most likely would depreciate in real terms. Keeping the money that will eventually be used to pay off the bill in property rather than in the bank is financially astute.
|
When are people requiring only short or medium term care ever expected to sell their home.
The case study of "Yusuf" in the Government document "Build Back Better" is incorrect. It claims the cap would kick in after 3 years and 4 months. The cap only applies to eligible costs, which will usually be a lot less than the actual costs. The difference under the new proposals will be a lot less than stated. Not only would take longer to reach the cap, he would still have to pay the excess.
Quote:
Once the £86,000 cap is reached,
Local Authorities will pay for all eligible personal care costs. No-one will need to
make a contribution from their income towards these care costs. People may
choose to “top up” their care costs by paying the difference towards a more
expensive service, but this will not count towards the cap.
|
Things like issues of part-ownership are already taken into account.
The housing market never crashes?