Net Zero is forcing UK care homes to close
A care home charity of which King Charles had been patron for over 40 years is being forced to shut down properties because of Government net zero rules
Martin Green, chief executive of the country’s leading social care body Care England, said on Friday that the Government had “slapped another fee” on chronically underfunded care homes by introducing legislation which will force providers to meet new energy efficiency standards at great cost.
He warned care providers across the country faced closure due to the prohibitive expense of installing more energy efficient double glazing, insulation and heating systems, expected to cost social care providers hundreds of thousands of pounds.
He said:
“The Government needs to see that, without help, care homes will not be able to deliver on this without losing beds.”
It came as the 60-year-old care home provider Abbeyfield, of which the King has been a patron for more than 40 years, confirmed 43 of its homes face closure because of the unmanageable costs of improving their Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating to C by 2030.
In a letter seen by this newspaper, residents were this week told an extensive review had concluded the cost of upgrading its properties under government net zero plans was “too great” for the charity to meet, saying it had identified a number of homes “which can no longer be operated sustainably”.
Residents of an Abbeyfield home in Cornwall told local news reporters it was “one of the worst things I have heard in my life” and that the prospect of losing their home was keeping them up a night, while a 76-year-old resident of a care home in Wiltshire said she “didn’t know why this was happening”.
Charities have warned elderly residents’ lives were at risk, due to the shock of the prospect of losing their homes.
The upgrades are necessary because of the Government’s efforts to meet its target of net zero ‘carbon’ emissions by 2050.
Helen Wildbore of Relatives & Residents Association, a charity, said care home closures had a devastating impact on elderly residents.
She said: “For people nearing the end of their lives, a move can have a serious impact on health and even hasten death. One resident in her 90s told us when her care home closed she felt as if a pit had opened at her feet and that she would never recover from the shock of her ‘home for life’ being taken away.
“With services so stretched and care provision so sparse, families can face a desperate search to find a new home nearby that is half decent.”
More than half of residential homes reported on by Care Quality Commission inspectors last year were rated either inadequate or requiring improvement.
Meanwhile the number of beds in care homes available to the elderly has been steadily falling for a decade, according to data from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.
The number of beds available per 100 people fell from 11.3 to 9.4 between 2012 and 2022.
Mike Padgham of The Independent Care Group, a non-profit, said many care home providers would be unable to afford the renovations, which could cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, adding soaring energy bills had already pushed care homes’ finances to the brink.
He said:
“With the huge pressure on cost at the moment, care homes simply do not have enough money left to upgrade their buildings. We will lose beds at a time when we desperately need more.”
Care homes have no choice but to pay extremely high energy bills in order to keep elderly residents warm. One provider said the amount it spent on energy per year had leapt from £95,606 in 2019 to £251,185 in 2022.
The majority of care homes are old buildings, many of which would require renovation in order to improve their energy efficiency.
According to estate agents Knight Frank, 81pc of care homes are older than 20 years and 40pc of homes are outdated and not purpose-built.
Paul Tennant, CEO of Abbeyfield, said the decision to consult on the future of some of its homes was “not one one we wanted to make” but reflected the huge “unprecedented pressure” facing social housing providers.
He said: “The incoming and regulatory environmental standards for social housing are an admirable ambition and for the right reasons. But after decades of underfunding, the Government needs to provide financial support for renovation of existing stock, not just new build homes.”
Abbeyfield assured residents it would do everything it could to find them a “suitable new home” if forced to close their residence.
The King is a fervent supporter of net zero, having campaigned for action on ‘climate change’ for many years.
Speaking to German lawmakers at the Bundestag in Berlin last month, he said he was “utterly convinced” of the value of the UK’s relationship with Germany as they work to “prosper and advance the urgent and vital journey towards net zero”.
Environmentalism is a way of life for the monarch. At Highgrove House in Gloucestershire, he has cultivated a fully organic farm and he has also converted his Aston Marton to run on surplus white wine and excess cheese wey.
The Government was approached for comment.
See more here telegraph.co.uk
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Tom
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Gates really does hate old people.
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Alan
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I doubt that the King, or his offspring, will wake up to the reality of no climate crisis.
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Anthony Bright-Paul
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Here is one for the scientists. Whoever first promoted the idea that the Earth was warming? It is so obvious that the opposite must be the truth. Every hot dinner immediately starts to cool, as every housewife knows. All heat always flows from hot to cold and never vice versa. The idea that a tiny amount of Co2 in the atmosphere could cause Global Warming is and always had been ludicrous
(Corrected your name that lacked the hyphen) SUNMOD
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