Free guide and savings limits checker
Care home fees: who pays?
Worried about care home fees and charges? Answer four questions to see how the savings limits could apply to your parent or relative in 2026/27. The checker runs in your browser and doesn’t send what you enter to us.
Valid until 5 April 2027. These figures are for 2026/27 and were checked on 31 October 2026. Rules and amounts can change at any time, so check current guidance before acting.
Important: this is general information and a rough guide only. It isn’t legal, financial, tax, benefits or medical advice, and it can’t tell you what your parent will pay. Only the council or HSC Trust, or the NHS for health funding, can decide that after an assessment. Don’t sign, sell, transfer or give away anything based on this page. Speak to a qualified adviser first. We can’t accept responsibility for decisions based on it.
These figures were valid until 5 April 2027 and haven’t been updated yet, so results are switched off. Please ask the council or HSC Trust, or check the official sources below.
We’ve tested these calculations against the published rules, but please use them as a guide only. This assumes a permanent place in a care home. It doesn’t work out their income, the fees or what the council will pay, and it isn’t advice. Only a financial assessment can give the real answer.
Do these first
- Ask about health funding. In England and Wales, ask about NHS Continuing Healthcare, which isn’t means-tested. Qualifying section 117 mental health aftercare is also free. In Scotland, Hospital Based Complex Clinical Care is for people who need care in hospital, so a care home place is usually charged for, with free personal and nursing care payments where assessed. In Northern Ireland, ask the HSC Trust.
- Ask for a care needs assessment. It’s free, and you can ask whatever their savings.
- Ask for a financial assessment. The council, or the HSC Trust in Northern Ireland, works out what your parent pays. Ask for the calculation in writing.
- Check nursing payments and benefits. Ask whether a nursing contribution applies. Tell the benefit office about a move into care, because Attendance Allowance can stop when the fees are publicly funded.
The savings limits for 2026/27
| Nation | Usually pay in full over | Savings ignored at or below |
|---|---|---|
| England | £23,250 | £14,250 |
| Wales | £50,000 | £50,000 |
| Scotland | £36,750 | £22,750 |
| Northern Ireland | £23,250 | £14,250 |
Between the limits, savings are treated as giving an extra £1 a week for every £250, or part of £250. Below a limit doesn’t mean free care, because the person would usually still pay from their income, keeping a small weekly allowance for personal spending. In England that’s £31.80 for 2026/27. The family may be asked for a top-up if a home costs more than the council will pay.
The figures on this page were for 2026/27 and have expired.
If your parent is moving between nations, ask which council or Trust is responsible, because that can decide which rules apply.
What about the family home?
A home can count as savings, which is why many families worry about it. In all four nations the main home is usually ignored for the first 12 weeks of a permanent stay, if their other savings are under the limit. That isn’t 12 weeks of free care, because they can still have to pay from income and other savings. It usually isn’t counted at all while a partner or certain relatives live there. Only some relatives qualify, and the rules vary, so ask the council or HSC Trust.
If the home does count, a deferred payment agreement may let them delay paying until later. It’s a repayable debt secured on the home, it may carry interest and charges, and not everyone qualifies. Rules differ across the UK, so in Northern Ireland ask the HSC Trust what arrangements are available.
Giving the home away won’t necessarily protect it. Councils and HSC Trusts can treat it as if your parent still owns it if they gave it away to avoid fees. Speak to a solicitor before transferring property or changing how it’s owned, including changing to tenants in common.
Who to contact
Ask for a care needs assessment and a financial assessment. In England, Wales and Scotland, find their local council. In Northern Ireland, see nidirect and contact their HSC Trust.
Questions families ask
Does my parent have to sell their home?
Not always. The home may not count while a partner or certain relatives live there. If it does count, a deferred payment agreement may let them delay paying, as a debt secured on the home. Ask what it would cost.
What happens when savings fall to the limit?
Contact the council or HSC Trust before they reach it, because the assessment takes time. Help may only start from when you ask, so money already spent may not be paid back.
Can giving money or the home away avoid the fees?
Not necessarily. If it looks as if your parent gave assets away to avoid fees, they can still be counted. Speak to a solicitor first.
What to do next
Free checklists
Print questions for care home visits, leaving hospital and the first month.
The full guide
When an Older Parent Needs Care explains funding, power of attorney and choosing a home.
Our planner
Our paid Google Sheets planner helps families share the work of moving a parent.
Who wrote this
King’s Head Press, a small UK publisher, prepared this guide from the official guidance below and checked it against those sources on 31 October 2026. We aren’t financial advisers. If you spot a mistake, please email [email protected].
Sources
Checked 31 October 2026. Figures usually change each April.
- GOV.UK: social care charging circular 2026 to 2027
- GOV.UK: Care Act statutory guidance
- GOV.WALES: charging for social care
- Age Cymru: paying for a permanent care home placement in Wales
- Welsh Government: charging and financial assessment code, 2025 (doesn’t reflect 2026 amounts)
- Blaenau Gwent Council: residential and nursing care charging policy, April 2026
- Care Information Scotland: capital limits
- Scottish Government: Charging for Residential Accommodation Guidance, March 2026
- Care Information Scotland: property disregard
- mygov.scot: personal and nursing care costs
- nidirect: paying your care home fees