A social-care consultancy has warned that many more care homes are at risk in the coming months with the government unable to guarantee that homes will not be closed.

A survey, from analysts Laing and Buisson, shows that over half of all councils have been forced to freeze or reduce their costs and, with costs rising by an average of 2.8%, there is a widening gap between the two, which may result in staff cuts and even operators being forced to go into administration.

The warning comes in the light of news that Southern Cross Healthcare, the biggest independent care-home operator in the country, was forced to close earlier this week after landlords refused to accept a big reduction in their rent. It claimed that the freezing of fees by local authorities played a big part in its downfall and a third of councils have said that there will be a smaller number of local authority funded residents in homes this year, which will lead to lower occupancy rates and more pressure on operating margins.

A spokesman from the Department of Health said that the government's Spending Review stressed that local authorities should have the resources to protect people's care in their areas. There are currently 380,000 elderly people in the UK, residing in just over 11,000 care homes. Over half of the residents have their fees paid for by their local authority.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/more-elderly-care-homes-set-to-close-after-spending-freeze-2313349.html