Over 20,000 pensioners were forced to sell their homes to pay for residential care last year, according to new figures out today.
This means an average of nearly 60 elderly people a day had to sell up because they cannot afford expensive care home fees, the Daily Mail reports.
The number of people being forced to sell has also soared by 17% since 2005, the figures show.
Around 100,000 elderly people have sold up over the past five years to pay for care home bills with one in eight of all those who enter a home forced to sell up.
Pressure to sell is being blamed on the fact care home fees have soared by more than 20% over the past five years to an average of £25,896.
Care services minister Paul Burstow, a Liberal Democrat, comments: "Thirteen years after Tony Blair promised to bring an end to pensioners selling their homes to fund long-term care it is unforgivable that next to nothing has been done to reform the system.
"That is why the Coalition Government has established the Commission on funding care and support to deliver a sustainable funding settlement for social care, which is a fair partnership between the state and the individual."
