Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has brought the social care spending cap forward to 2016 to protect funding above £72,000.
The Budget 2013 announcement brings the cap spending plans forward by 12 months and is £3,000 lower than the originally proposed £75,000.
Osborne said: "Helping with aspiration also means helping those who want to keep their homes instead of having to sell it to pay for the costs of social care. That's what our new cap will deliver - as Andrew Dilnot recommended."
"It'll also come in in 2016. It will be set to protect savings above £72,000, and we'll raise the threshold for the means test on residential care from just over £23,000 to £118,000 that year too.
"For decades politicians have talked of doing something for savers and those who have to sell their homes to pay for care; and yet nothing has been done."
Liz Faye, long-term care adviser and owner at advice firm Palm Financial Care, said the reduction from £75,000 to £72,000 will not make much difference to the majority of care funders.
"These long-term care changes have not been communicated very well. The cap is just relative for care costs, but what about hotel costs?," she said.
"This lower cap may seem positive on the surface, but it is not. It is just a vote winner. If you are going to pay a specialist in the form of Andrew Dilnot to research and report on this issue then to ignore the points it makes makes no sense. Certainly the £35,000 cap would be much more appropriate."
The Budget report states: "The Government will implement the £72,000 cap on reasonable social care costs, drawing on the Dilnot Commission's recommendations, and extend the means test to give more people access to financial support for their residential care costs from April 2016.
"This will provide peace of mind to those who want to plan for their old age and leave savings to their children."
