1993 is a year that sticks uncomfortably in the minds of many private care home owners in Brighton and Hove.

It was the year Margaret Thatcher's Care in the Community Act was introduced, a move that changed the face of residential care, steering it on a new course that owners say has led to the state it is in today.

In the last seven months 20 care homes and nursing homes in Brighton and Hove have shut, leaving dozens of frail residents facing a stressful move to new, unfamiliar accommodation, many just weeks before Christmas. Seven more are now earmarked for closure.

Most notable is the French Convalescent Home, doomed by trustees who say they cannot guarantee its future financial security. Other planned closures include Chanctonbury House, Dyke Road, the only theatrical care home outside London, which has 15 residents; Lucerne Rest Home in Pembroke Avenue, which has 14 and closes on December 6; Parkton Lodge in Dyke Road with four residents; Preston Park House Nursing Home in Harrington Road, which once had 25 high-demand nursing care beds and will close by December 17; Homecroft Rest Home in Carlisle Road, Hove, and Almir House in Sillwood Road, Brighton, which has 17 residents. Byron House in Vallence Road, Hove, has also closed in the last few weeks.

So why are so many home owners bailing out?

The simple answer, according to the owners, is money. Most say social services are not receiving enough cash from central Government to fund as many care home places and nursing home beds as they would ideally like to. In 1998/ 1999, social services received £52,886,000. In 1999/2000, they have have been awarded £58 million.

In Brighton and Hove, social services pay homes £213 per resident per week. Owners say it actually costs them almost £400 to care for them. They say the result is a private care home industry, which still relies heavily on referrals, hanging on by a shoestring and in some cases failing altogether.

Tony Andrews, chairman of the East Sussex, Brighton and Hove Residential Care Homes Association, said: "Years of under-funding by social services departments and the Government has meant home owners have run their homes barely at break-even or at a loss.

"Social services know the real cost of running a residential care home since they themselves run some. In East Sussex they pay themselves just over £400 per week.

"Yet if social services place an elderly person in a private care home they pay about half that figure of just over £200 a week.

"It is this misguided policy that has pushed us towards the position we now find ourselves in. The industry is at crisis point."

The group's vice-chairman Graham George, owner of Deva House in Dyke Road, said: "The reasons for massive closures are lack of state funding and the ever increasing demands on owners. The rate of closures, if not stopped, will have a traumatic effect on very frail and dependent folk and will reduce still further the choice for the elderly in Brighton and Hove in the future."

But the problems now being faced by the likes of Mr Andrews, who runs the Gensing Rest Home in Hastings, and Mr George, go deeper still.

The Tories' desire to move nursing care into the home has had a huge knock-on effect. Since 1993, more and more elderly people have been funded to receive care at home, cutting down on the numbers referred to traditional long-stay care homes and nursing homes.

Individual patients are assessed on the level of care they need and the support they receive at home.

Terrina Clifton-Moore, who for 16 years has managed Chanctonbury House for elderly people once involved in the theatre, said: "Care in the Community has had a big effect. But it is not working. It is not realistic. Old people are not happy with a one hour visit in the morning and another at night. They want something better. They have an entitlement to 24 hour care."

Judith Sampson, owner of Parkton Lodge, said: "I have not had one referral from social services. I had six residents here. Two were taken out by social services. One was taken back into the community but was very keen to stay with us. The other wanted to go back but only lasted two weeks and was put back with us. She has since left. I just cannot afford to carry on with four residents, especially now I have to pay part-time staff for holidays."

New Government legislation has also added to the concerns of home owners. A white paper called Fit for the Future sets out minimum standards which must be met if the proposals become law. It is going through a consultation process, due to end in December.

But many say it will cost thousands of pounds to meet the standards, which include en suite bathroom facilities, minimum room sizes and single room occupancy for all residents.

Residential Homes Association chairman Mr Andrews said: "The advantage of the white paper would be that it would give us a national standard, something we have been pressing for for sometime. The philosophy is great, but the way the Government has done it is wildly prescriptive. The majority of rooms for example would need extending. Most care home owners cannot afford that."

Figures released by national group the Forum for Private Business suggest more than 75 per cent of residential homes would be closed by the cost of meeting the minimum requirements, while the figure for nursing homes could be even higher.

Social services bosses disagree with the home owners. They claim there are 50 per cent more care home beds in Brighton and Hove than are actually required by a population whose average age is dropping.

In 1991, there were 49,200 people aged 65 years and over. In 1996, that figure dropped to 43,100. By 2001, forecasters say the number will be down to 38,200 and by 2006, 35,200.

Allan Bowman, the director of social services, said many care home owners are making an "orderly withdrawal", taking full advantage of soaring property prices by selling their homes.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.