Some 41% of consumers aged 45 to 85 say that they would need to fund long term residential care by renting or selling their property, according to the research from Partnership, the largest care annuity provider in the UK.
Property was the third highest payment method among the respondents, behind the State funding their care and pension income. The survey found that only 4% would use an insurance policy for long term care.
‘Despite the downturn in the property market, the realisation that property is likely to be a key source of funding for any care costs is becoming more widespread. Estimates suggest that over 65s have unmortgaged equity of nearly one trillion pounds,’ said Chris Horlick, managing director of Care.
‘As costs of long term care increase more retirees are struggling to find methods to fund care aside from utilising assets such as property. We believe that greater awareness of the benefits of Equity Release to fund care, will provide another vital source of income for those people who wish to use property to do so,’ he explained.
