Ninety-nine per cent of Britons, would rather live at home or in a retirement village, than a care home

Ninety-nine per cent of people in the UK would rather live at home or in a retirement village, than a care home, according to a new survey.

The research commissioned by Audley Retirement, found people would prefer to downsize to a retirement village where care could be provided onsite or receive care in their existing home rather than within a residential care home.

The survey carried out by You Gov revealed four in ten (41 per cent) said they did not know how they would fund any care needs.

It also found two thirds (64 per cent) of men and over half of women assume they will need care when they get older.

In fact, only one in five men and one in three women are likely to need long term care in the future, according to Who Cares? The implications of a new partnership to fund long-term care, which was produced by The Chartered Insurance Institute last year.

Nick Sanderson, chief executive of Audley Retirement, which runs retirement villages said: “These findings illustrate how flawed the debate on long term care has been. The Government and the Dilnot Commission have focussed on how we find a funding fix for the current model of residential care provision, yet as these findings show, it is a model no one wants.

"We have to listen to how people want their future care needs and invest in viable alternatives that meet people’s aspirations for independence, control and dignity in later life.”

He added: “We have to empower older people to stay in financial control of their future. This is the first generation of homeowners who collectively owns £1 trillion in housing assets. The greatest challenge they face is being aware of the options available to them to use this equity to fund their lifestyle, any future needs and also provide inheritance.”