A million British pensioners trade homes for care

Over a million homes in Britain have been sold by pensioners to pay for the rising cost of care, a study has revealed. Also, another two million aged people have had to use their savings to bear care costs.

They average 3,000 pounds (about $4,670) a month for a nursing home and 2,000 pounds for residential care, Daily Express reported Wednesday.

The bills consume the elderly people's savings and assets, leaving them with literally nothing from a lifetime of hard work to pass on to children or grandchildren.

According to the report by investment group NFU Mutual, a total of 1,163,200 elderly people have been forced to sell their house or flat over the past five years to pay care bills.

It means three in four Britons with parents in care will lose their inheritance.

Since 1999, one in 10 adults has had a parent go into care. Of those, 28 percent have been forced to sell the family home and 48 percent have used ­savings to meet the charges.

While 15 percent of children of pensioners in care still hope to inherit a property or money from their parents, 77 percent said fees had eaten up "most" of their parents' wealth.

The survey of 2,000 people also found that those expecting help from the state were likely to be ­disappointed.

Across the country, 53 percent of councils admitted to slashing their budgets for ­elderly care since 2009.

A Freedom of Information request revealed 68 out of 128 local authorities polled had made the cuts.