Conservative manifesto 2017: Property-rich elderly to pay for care

Property-owning pensioners who receive social care services in their own home will have to pick up the bill for their care instead of councils, under plans to be announced in the Conservative manifesto today.

At the moment, local authorities pick up the entire bill for anyone with assets below £14,350 and the bulk of the cost for anyone with assets below the upper threshold of £23,250.

However, that only includes property wealth for those moving into a care home - and only then if a spouse or dependent does not still live in the home.

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Consequently, councils are currently paying for care for the majority of the 300,000 people who remain in their home, totalling around £14.4bn, roughly a third, of their spending, says The Times.

As budgets have been cut while care costs have increased, councils are believed to have a funding shortfall of more than £2bn directly related to social care services.

Under the Tories' plans, which they say will deal with the "great challenges of our time", reports The Guardian, the £23,250 limit will be increased to £100,000 and will include property wealth for all recipients of care services.

That means people moving into care homes will be able to keep four times more of their accumulated wealth, but those who do remain in their own property will have to pay much more.

However, they will not have to sell their home. "Instead, products will be available allowing the elderly to pay by extracting equity from their homes, which will be recovered at a later date when they die or sell their residence," says the Guardian.

The policy "is likely to lead to accusations that it is a 'death tax' in all but name", says the Times.

Conservative leader Theresa May is to set out the measures as a response to one of five "major challenges" facing the country and "strategists also hope it will paint the prime minister as a realist and pragmatist in contrast to Labour", says the Guardian.

In stark contrast with the other two main parties, the Tories will also pledge to scrap the triple lock on state pensions. They will also end their promise not to raise any of VAT, income tax and national insurance.

"People are rightly sceptical of politicians who claim to have easy answers to deeply complex problems," May will say today. "It is the responsibility of leaders to be straight with people about the challenges ahead and the hard work required to overcome them."