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Care home owners are facing a round of fee increases from the regulatory body the National Care Standards Commission.

Registration fees for new homes will rise from £1,320 to £1,584 in April next year. Annual fees paid by care homes, home care agencies, mental health hospitals and children’s homes will also increase by about 20 per cent.

Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Paul Burstow said that the increases will be the “final straw” for some care home owners. He said: “Organisations providing care in people's own homes are already struggling to make ends meet.

“They are squeezed between local authorities who refuse to pay increased fees and regulators policing standards. This pressure is driving more and more homes out of business so that elderly people are forced to move or are languishing in hospital.”