The Equity Release Council has given its backing to the CentreForum report, Delivering Dilnot: paying for elderly care, which was published on 3 January.

“We fully back CentreForum’s efforts to focus attention on the question of who pays for elderly care,” said Andrea Rozario, director general of the Equity Release Council.

“With at least half of people in the system required to fund all or part of their care, more must be done to help them access financial advice and avoid a scenario where their savings, assets and quality of life are eroded from the lack of an alternative solution.

“CentreForum’s proposals [for targeting winter fuel payments and capping the amount people have to pay towards social care costs] are well motivated by the belief that, as far as possible, someone who has worked hard to afford their home should not be forced to give it up to help fund their healthcare in later life. Even without these reforms, however, it’s important to stress that releasing equity from their properties already offers many people a way to manage these costs without having to sacrifice their homes.

“Any measure encouraging local government to refer self-funders for care to qualified financial advisers would a real positive – helping people to make an informed choice about options such as equity release, and giving them access to professional guidance when they need it most. We would welcome any move to make this a reality.”