Selling My Parent’s House To Pay For Care | Is This Needed?
Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
This article was reviewed by Sara Chapin, Director of Finance at Lottie, on 24th January 2025, to ensure accurate and trustworthy information for care seekers. Sara Chapin has been a Certified Public Accountant with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy since 2017. Next review due January 2026.
Whether you or your local authority will pay for care depends on the total value of your savings and income (and assets if care in a care home is needed). When paying for care, many people sell their homes to have enough money, so you may be wondering whether this applies to you and your loved ones.
This article’s purpose is to educate you on the different care funding options available. With that said, we recommend seeking the advice of an FCA accredited financial advisor before making any decisions. You can speak to someone at the Society of Later Life Advisers (SOLLA) for expert information.
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In this article:
- Will I need to pay for my own care?
- Will my home be included in a financial assessment?
- Other circumstances that may affect if your home is included in a financial assessment
- How the value of your property is determined
- Alternatives to selling your home to pay for care
- Find care near you
Will I Need To Pay For My Own Care?
Whether you’ll pay for your own care is worked out through a financial assessment (means test). This looks at the total value of your savings and income (and assets if care in a care home is needed).
Homeowners who need care in a care home are more likely to be above their country’s upper threshold, so will pay for their own care. Our data shows that the average care cost for privately-funded residential care in a care home is £1,406 per week.
In some cases, your home won’t be included in a financial assessment, such as if you need home care. In this case, you can continue living in your home while receiving care.
We’ve listed the funding thresholds below. Your local authority will fully fund your care if you’re below the lower threshold, and they’ll partially fund it if you’re between the thresholds.
Our 2024 Care Seeker Survey found that the proportion of people who use personal savings to pay for their own care has significantly increased since 2021, from 41% to 65%. This was most apparent in England, where funding thresholds are the least generous to care seekers.
To make things clearer, we also have guides explaining care funding in England, Scotland and Wales.
| Country | Upper Savings Threshold | Lower Savings Threshold |
|---|---|---|
| England | £23,250 | £14,250 |
| Northern Ireland | £23,250 | £14,250 |
| Scotland | £35,000 | £21,500 |
| Wales | £50,000 for care homes and £24,000 for home care | N/A |
Will My Home Be Included In A Financial Assessment?
Whether your home is included in a financial assessment depends on if you’ll receive care in a care home or your own home.
Care in a care home
Your property will usually be included in a financial assessment when receiving permanent care in a care home.
Homeowners who need care in a care home are almost always above the threshold for this reason (because the value of a property is usually much more than the various upper thresholds in the UK).
However, your home won’t be included if you only need short-term care in a care home.
Care at home
Your property isn’t included in a financial assessment when receiving home care. For this reason, people who own their homes and need home care are much more likely to be below their country’s middle or lower threshold.
Other Circumstances That May Affect If Your Home Is Included In A Financial Assessment
It’s jointly-owned
If you own your home with someone else, only your share will be counted during a financial assessment. A tenancy in common allows people to own specific shares of a property.
It’s up to your local council to work out these individual values. It isn’t simply a case of valuing the entire property and dividing by your share to get a figure. Instead, they’ll need to consider how much someone would pay to become a joint owner instead of you.
If you don’t have equal shares of the home, you may need to provide evidence to prove this.
Someone else still lives there
Your home won’t be included in a financial assessment if one of the following people is still living in it:
- Your spouse, partner or civil partner
- A close relative older than 60
- A dependent child
- A disabled or incapacitated relative
It also might not be included if someone is still living in the home who has been caring for you, such as your child .
How The Value Of Your Property Is Determined
Your property’s value will be determined by its present market value. Any mortgages or loans on the property are then deducted from this current market value. If any expenses would be incurred to sell the property, these will also be deducted from the current market value.
Alternatives To Selling Your Home To Pay For Care
Deferred payment agreement
A deferred payment agreement is an arrangement with your local council where they pay for your care, and you pay them back later (when your home is eventually sold). Deferred payment agreements are only available for people who need long-term care, so wouldn’t cover something like support in a respite care home.
Renting our your property
One idea is to rent out your home and use the rental income to pay some or all of your care home fees. While this extra income would be welcomed, it does come with lots of additional admin, such as ensuring your property meets all health and safety requirements, listing it, and tending to the needs of tenants.
Equity release
This allows you to release money from your home without having to sell it. There’s usually a minimum age for equity release, such as 55. Money can be released from your home in smaller instalments, or as a lump sum.
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