Selling a House for Care Fees

Sell your house to pay for care home fees

When a loved one needs residential care, selling their property quickly and for a fair price can make an enormous difference. We understand how difficult and emotional this situation is, and we are here to help you through it.

With care home fees often exceeding 1,000 pounds per week, every week spent waiting for a traditional sale is money lost. A cash sale can complete in as little as 7 days, helping you fund care without delay.

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A Difficult Situation

When you need to sell a house to fund care

Finding out that a parent or loved one needs residential care is one of the most emotionally challenging experiences a family can face. On top of the worry about their wellbeing, you are suddenly confronted with the reality of how to pay for it. Care home fees in the UK typically range from 800 to over 1,500 pounds per week, and if your loved one has assets above the local authority threshold, you are expected to fund the full cost yourself.

For many families, the family home is the largest asset. Selling it to fund care is a decision nobody wants to make, but it is often the most practical option. The difficulty is that traditional property sales take months, and during that time care fees continue to accumulate. An empty property also needs to be maintained, insured, and kept secure, adding further costs and stress to an already overwhelming situation.

We work with families in this position every week. We understand the emotional weight of selling a parent's home, and we treat every family with the sensitivity and respect they deserve. Our role is to take the practical burden off your shoulders so you can focus on what matters most: your loved one's care.

Understanding the Process

How the care home fee assessment works

When someone needs residential care, the local authority carries out a financial assessment (often called a means test) to determine how much the person should contribute towards the cost of their care. This assessment looks at all of the person's assets, including savings, investments, and property.

The key thresholds in England are as follows:

Assets above 23,250 pounds

You are classed as a self-funder and must pay the full cost of your care. The local authority will not contribute anything towards your fees. This is the situation that most commonly leads to a property needing to be sold.

Assets between 14,250 and 23,250 pounds

You will receive some financial support from the local authority, but you will still be expected to contribute from your capital. A tariff income of 1 pound per week is assumed for every 250 pounds of capital above 14,250 pounds.

Assets below 14,250 pounds

Your capital is disregarded entirely. The local authority will fund the majority of your care costs, though you may still be asked to contribute from your income (such as your state pension).

It is important to understand the deprivation of assets rules. If the local authority believes that someone has deliberately given away or transferred assets to avoid paying care fees, they can assess the person as if they still own those assets. This means transferring a property to a family member, selling it at a significant undervalue, or placing it in a trust specifically to avoid care fees can all be challenged. However, selling a property at a fair price and using the proceeds to pay for care is entirely legitimate.

Compare Your Options

Your options when selling to pay for care

When you need to sell a property to fund care home fees, there are three main routes available to you. Each has its own advantages and drawbacks, particularly when time is a factor.

Estate agent

4 to 6+ months

✓Typically achieves the highest sale price
✓Takes 4 to 6 months on average, sometimes longer
✓Requires the property to be presentable for viewings
✓Around 1 in 3 sales fall through before completion
✓Agent fees of 1% to 3% plus VAT
✓Care fees of 50,000 to 80,000 pounds could accumulate while waiting

Cash buyer

7 to 28 days

✓Complete in as little as 7 days
✓Guaranteed sale with no risk of collapse
✓No chain, no mortgage dependency
✓No need for viewings on an empty property
✓No estate agent fees or hidden costs
✓Funds available quickly to pay for care

Auction

6 to 10 weeks

✓Sale completes within 28 days of the auction
✓No guarantee the property will sell on the day
✓Risk of achieving a low price under auction pressure
✓Entry fees and auctioneer commission apply
✓Legal pack must be prepared in advance at your cost
✓Limited control over the final sale price

Why Cash Makes Sense

Why a cash sale makes sense for care funding

When care fees are running at 1,000 pounds or more every week, time is genuinely money. A traditional sale through an estate agent takes an average of 4 to 6 months. During that time, the family could spend 20,000 to 40,000 pounds or more on care costs alone, on top of council tax, insurance, and maintenance on the empty property.

A cash sale dramatically reduces this waiting period. Completing in 7 to 28 days rather than months means the sale proceeds are available to fund care almost immediately. The difference in time can translate into tens of thousands of pounds saved in accumulated care fees.

Speed matters

Every week of delay costs the family in care fees, council tax, insurance, and property maintenance. A cash sale puts an end to these accumulating costs and gets the funds where they are needed.

Certainty of sale

Around 1 in 3 property sales through estate agents fall through. When you are relying on a sale to fund care, a collapsed sale is not just frustrating, it is financially devastating. A cash sale is guaranteed.

No viewings on an empty property

An empty house left for months of viewings is a security risk and a maintenance burden. A cash buyer makes one visit to assess the property. There are no open days, no strangers, and no ongoing disruption.

Less stress at a difficult time

Dealing with a parent going into care is emotionally exhausting. A cash sale removes the uncertainty and complexity of a traditional sale, so you can focus your energy on your family rather than estate agents and house buyers.

It is also worth remembering that the price difference between a cash sale and a traditional sale is often smaller than people expect once you account for estate agent fees (1% to 3% plus VAT), the cost of months of care fees while waiting, council tax on an empty property, insurance, and the risk of a sale falling through and having to start again.

Your Rights

Can the council force me to sell?

This is one of the most common questions families ask, and the answer is no. The local authority cannot force you to sell a property to pay for care. However, they do have the right to include the value of the property in the financial assessment, which means the person in care will be classed as a self-funder if their total assets exceed 23,250 pounds.

There are two important protections that families should be aware of:

The 12-week property disregard

When someone first enters permanent residential care, the local authority must disregard the value of their property for the first 12 weeks. During this period, the council will fund the care costs (though the person may still need to contribute from their income). This gives the family time to make arrangements for the property without the immediate pressure of having to fund the full cost of care from day one.

Deferred payment agreements

After the 12-week disregard period, the local authority must offer a deferred payment agreement if your main asset is your home. Under this arrangement, the council pays the care fees on your behalf and places a legal charge against the property. The debt, plus interest and administration fees, is repaid when the property is eventually sold or from the estate after death. While this removes the immediate pressure to sell, the interest charges mean the total amount owed increases over time. Many families find that selling the property sooner is more cost-effective than deferring.

While the council cannot force a sale, the financial reality is that most families do eventually sell the property. The question is not usually whether to sell, but when and how. Selling quickly to a cash buyer avoids the accumulating costs of a deferred payment agreement and puts the family in control of the process.

Need to sell a property to fund care?

We understand how urgent and emotional this situation is. Enter your postcode below to receive a fair, no-obligation cash offer within 24 hours. There are no fees, no chain, and no viewings. We can complete in as little as 7 days so you can focus on what matters most.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about selling a house to pay for care

Here are answers to the questions families most frequently ask when they need to sell a property to fund care home fees.

No, the local authority cannot force you to sell your home to pay for care fees. However, if the property is included in the financial assessment and your assets exceed the upper capital limit of 23,250 pounds, you will be expected to fund your own care. The council must offer a deferred payment agreement, which means they place a charge against the property and the care fees are repaid from the eventual sale proceeds. While you are not forced to sell, in practice many families choose to sell the property to avoid the interest and administration charges that accumulate under a deferred payment arrangement.

Deprivation of assets is when someone deliberately reduces their wealth to reduce or avoid paying care home fees. If the local authority believes a property was sold at a significant undervalue, given away, or transferred into a trust with the intention of avoiding care fees, they can assess the person as if they still own the asset. This means the full value of the property could still be counted in the means test. Selling a property at a fair price (even below full open market value to a cash buyer) to fund care is not deprivation of assets, because the person receives the sale proceeds and uses them to pay for care. The key factor is whether the purpose was to avoid paying for care.

A deferred payment agreement is an arrangement between the person needing care and their local authority. The council effectively loans the money to pay for care, secured against the property. Interest is charged on the deferred amount (currently at a rate set by the government), and an administration fee is also applied. When the property is eventually sold, or when the person passes away, the deferred amount plus interest and fees is repaid from the proceeds. While this avoids the need to sell immediately, the total cost of care increases over time due to the interest charges, which is why many families decide that selling sooner rather than later makes better financial sense.

We can complete the purchase in as little as 7 days from accepting our offer, though most care-related sales complete within 14 to 28 days to allow solicitors to handle the legal work. This is dramatically faster than the 4 to 6 months it typically takes to sell through an estate agent. When care fees of 1,000 pounds or more per week are accumulating, this speed can save the family a significant amount of money. We understand the urgency and prioritise care-related sales accordingly.

Yes, provided the sale is genuine and the proceeds are used to fund care. Selling to a cash buyer at a price that reflects the speed and certainty of the sale is a legitimate transaction, not deprivation of assets. Deprivation of assets occurs when someone deliberately disposes of an asset for less than its value with the intention of avoiding care fees. Accepting a slightly lower price in exchange for a guaranteed, fast sale is a reasonable commercial decision, particularly when care costs are accumulating at over 1,000 pounds per week. The sale proceeds go directly towards funding care, so there is no attempt to hide or reduce assets.

If a spouse, civil partner, or partner still lives in the property, it must be disregarded from the financial assessment entirely. This means the local authority cannot include its value when calculating how much the person in care should pay. The same applies if a relative aged 60 or over lives there, a relative who is disabled or incapacitated lives there, or a child under 18 who is a dependant lives there. The property may also be disregarded at the council's discretion in other circumstances, such as when a former carer who gave up their own home lives there. If the property is disregarded, there is no need to sell it to fund care.

If your parent still has mental capacity, they can instruct the sale themselves or give you permission to handle it on their behalf. However, if your parent has lost mental capacity (for example, due to dementia), you will need a registered Property and Financial Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney to sell their property. If no LPA was put in place before capacity was lost, you will need to apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed as a deputy, which can take several months and involves ongoing costs. This is one of the most important reasons to arrange an LPA while a parent still has the capacity to do so.

If your parent owns the property and it was their main residence, there should be no capital gains tax liability on the sale because principal private residence relief applies. This relief continues to apply for up to 9 months after the owner moves out (for example, into a care home). After that period, a proportion of any gain may become taxable. If you own the property (for example, if it was transferred to you), you may face a capital gains tax liability because it is not your main residence. The rules are complex, and we always recommend seeking advice from a tax professional or accountant before proceeding with a sale in these circumstances.

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