Selling a house to pay care home fees
You can sell a relative's home to pay for their care, but only if you hold a registered lasting power of attorney or a deputyship order. A cash sale with us completes in 7 to 28 days, in any condition, with no estate agent fees. That stops care fees eating into savings while a slow sale drags on.
Get a Free Cash Offer Call us nowQuick answer: You need a registered lasting power of attorney or a Court of Protection deputyship before you can sell a relative's home to pay for their care. Ask the council about a deferred payment agreement first. It may mean you don't have to sell at all. If selling is the right answer, we price each property on its own rather than to a set percentage. The written cash offer we give you is our best offer on what you have told us. It is valid for 14 days, and we complete in 7 to 28 days, in any condition, with no estate agent fees.
Three steps, at whatever pace suits the family
Ask the council about a deferred payment agreement first. It may mean you don't have to sell at all.
Step 1
Tell us about the propertyFill in the form at the bottom of this page. Say whether you hold an LPA or a deputyship order, or are still applying.
Step 2
Get your offer the same dayIn writing, valid for 14 days. Our best offer, first time, priced on the property rather than a formula.
Step 3
You pick the completion dateWe complete in 7 to 28 days, or hold to a later date while belongings are sorted and authority is confirmed.
Why families end up selling a home to pay for care
Most families sell because the council's financial assessment says they have to fund the care themselves. A move into residential care rarely comes with much warning. One week a parent is managing at home, the next there has been a fall, a hospital stay, or a dementia diagnosis.
In England the assessment looks at savings and capital. The person's own home usually counts once they are no longer living in it and no qualifying relative remains there. Above the upper capital limit of 23,250 pounds, they are a self-funder and pay the full cost of their care. Care home fees run to hundreds of pounds a week, so savings that looked comfortable drain quickly, and the house becomes the obvious source of money.
This is a hard place to be. You are making decisions for someone you love, often while they are frightened or confused, and the paperwork feels relentless. This page covers the legal authority you need, the option to defer payment instead of selling in a rush, and where a fast cash sale fits in. There is no pressure here. Read it at your own pace.
The legal authority you need before you can sell
You need a registered lasting power of attorney or a Court of Protection deputyship order. Being someone's child, spouse or next of kin isn't enough on its own. Which one applies depends on what was put in place before the person lost capacity.
Lasting power of attorney
For property and financial affairs, registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. This is what most families rely on.
Enduring power of attorney
Signed before October 2007 and still valid, but it has to be registered once capacity starts to go.
Court of Protection deputyship
Where no power of attorney exists. It often takes several months, and the order may need specific authority to sell.
If capacity remains
Your relative sells in the normal way and instructs the solicitors themselves. You can help without holding authority.
Best interests, every time
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 requires attorneys and deputies to act in the person's interests, not the family's.
Confirm it in writing early
A buyer's solicitor will ask to see the registered LPA or the deputyship order before completion.
Not sure where you stand?
Tell us about the property and we'll come back the same day with a written offer, valid for 14 days. No obligation, and no pressure either way.
Get my free cash offerDeferred payment agreements: an alternative to selling in a hurry
You may not have to sell at all. Under the Care Act 2014, English councils run a deferred payment agreement scheme.
The council pays the care home fees and puts a legal charge on the person's home. The debt, plus any interest and admin fees the council is allowed to charge, is repaid later. That is usually when the house is sold, or out of the estate after death. Nobody has to sell the family home in a rush just to keep the fees paid week to week.
To qualify, the person generally needs savings and other assets below the upper capital limit, not counting the value of the home itself. The property also has to have enough equity to cover the deferred fees.
There is also a 12-week property disregard at the start of a permanent care placement. During that time the value of the home is ignored in the means test, which buys breathing space to decide calmly.
A deferral is often the right answer when the family wants to keep options open, or when a fast sale would lock in a loss. It is the wrong answer when interest and charges are mounting, when the empty property is deteriorating, or when the family simply wants the matter settled. Ask the council for the details in writing, and weigh the cost of deferring against the cost of holding an empty house.
The real cost of leaving the house empty while you decide
Want a real figure rather than an estimate?
Two minutes on the form is enough. We price on the property itself, not to a set percentage, and it's our best offer first time.
See what we'd paySo the honest comparison is never just the headline sale price. It is what the person, or the estate, actually keeps after fees and after the cost of holding the house. Be careful how you count the care fees, though. They are owed whichever route you take. What the route really changes is the carrying cost of the empty house, plus any interest and admin charges the council adds to a deferred payment agreement. Over several months that adds up, but on a sound house that sells without trouble it may be modest, and the open market will still come out ahead.
Three ways to sell, and what each really nets
There are three ways to turn the house into cash once you have the authority to act. Which one wins depends mostly on how much time you have.
Estate agent
Highest headline price, slowest. Around 22 weeks to completion, commission of 1 to 1.5% plus VAT, and every extra month is more care fees.
Auction
Middle on price, faster to complete. Reserves sit below open market, and the modern method adds a 4.2 to 5% buyer fee.
Cash buyer (us)
Lowest headline price, fastest and most certain. 7 to 28 days, no agent fees, and nothing comes off the figure agreed.
Working to a deadline?
Tell us the date. Most sales complete in 7 to 28 days, and if we can't work to your timescale we'll say so straight away.
Talk to us todaySo which is right? If the person has savings to cover fees for many months yet, the property is in good order, and there is no rush, the open market usually leaves more in the end. If care fees are outrunning savings, the property needs work, or the family wants certainty, the cash route can win once everything is counted.
Acting in the person's best interests: keeping the decision defensible
Write down why you made the decision, and keep the paperwork that backs it up. As an attorney or deputy your legal duty is to act in the person's best interests, not your own and not those of anyone due to inherit. That doesn't mean chasing the highest theoretical price whatever the cost, risk or delay. It means making a decision you can justify.
The principle mirrors what the courts expect of executors selling estate property in Buttle v Saunders [1950]. The duty is to get the best price reasonably obtainable, weighing certainty, condition, carrying costs and the ongoing care bill. It is not a duty to gamble on a slow sale that might net more but might also collapse.
In practice, a defensible cash sale looks like this. Get a market valuation from an RICS surveyor or an estate agent, so you know the open-market figure. Keep the written cash offer. Write a short note of why accepting it serves the person, for example that it stops care fees eating their capital and removes the risk of a failed chain. Where the person can still express a view, record their wishes and feelings.
Be aware that larger gifts or transfers at below value can need Court of Protection approval. A sale at a genuine market-based discount to a cash buyer is a very different thing from giving the property away. If you are in any doubt, a solicitor who does Court of Protection work can confirm the position for your situation. We are happy for you to take that advice before you commit to anything.
How we work with families funding care across South Yorkshire
Tell us about the property and your situation, and we give you a written cash offer the same day, valid for 14 days. That figure is our best offer at that point, based on what you have told us. We don't open low and creep the price up to get a deal over the line. We don't price to a formula either, because condition, location and how quickly the family needs to move all pull the number in different directions. It can only change afterwards if the legal work turns up something material, such as a title defect or a structural problem, or if the property turns out to be different from how it was described.
We are a small local team and we buy with our own money, so the person who answers the phone is the person who agrees the price. We buy houses across Sheffield, Doncaster, Rotherham and Barnsley, and also in Chesterfield, Worksop, Retford, Mansfield and Gainsborough.
We buy in any condition, so there is no need to clear, clean or repair anything. We deal directly with your solicitor throughout, whether that is your own solicitor or one from our panel. We can cover your legal fees if you use our panel solicitor, and there are no estate agent fees, so the amount agreed is the amount that goes toward the care bill.
On timing, we can complete in as little as 7 days, or hold to a date that suits you. That might be once a deferred payment agreement is wound down, once the Court of Protection has confirmed authority, or once the family has had time to clear personal belongings. We buy the property, not its contents. Photographs, furniture and the things that need going through are your decision and your timeline.
If a cash sale isn't the right answer for your relative, for example if a deferred payment agreement clearly serves them better, we will tell you so.
Frequently asked questions
Only if you have the legal authority to act for them. If your parent still has mental capacity, they sell in the normal way and you can help. If they have lost capacity, you need one of two things: a registered lasting power of attorney (or a valid registered enduring power of attorney) for property and financial affairs, or a property and financial affairs deputyship granted by the Court of Protection. A buyer's solicitor will ask to see that authority before completion, so check it is registered and in place before you market the property.
Not necessarily. Under the Care Act 2014, English councils offer deferred payment agreements. The council pays the care fees and secures the debt with a charge on the home. It is repaid when the property is sold, or from the estate later. There is also a 12-week property disregard at the start of a permanent care placement, when the home's value is ignored in the means test. Selling makes sense when carrying costs and interest are mounting, or when the family wants the matter settled. Even then, it is worth asking the council about deferral first.
With a cash sale to us there are no estate agent fees, and we can cover your legal fees if you use our panel solicitor, so what we agree is what goes toward care. On the open market you would usually pay agent commission of 1 to 1.5% plus VAT, plus conveyancing, an EPC, insurance for an empty property and council tax, across a sale that can take around 22 weeks. Our headline figure is lower than a full open-market price, and we don't work to a percentage. Every property is priced on what it actually is and on what you tell us about it. Nothing is deducted from the figure we agree, so it lands in weeks, not months.
Then no attorney authority exists, and you can't act simply as next of kin. Someone will need to apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed as a property and financial affairs deputy. That usually takes several months. The deputy may also need specific authority in the order to sell a property, so read it carefully or ask a solicitor to check. We can put an offer in writing and talk the property through while the application is going on, but we wouldn't complete until the authority to sell is confirmed.
The home usually counts as capital once the person is in permanent care and no qualifying relative still lives there. The 12-week property disregard applies at the start of a placement. Above the upper capital limit of 23,250 pounds in England, the person is a self-funder and pays their full care costs. Selling turns the property into cash, which then funds the care until the capital falls. Ask the council for a financial assessment, and get independent advice, to confirm how your relative's own position is treated.
A cash sale with us completes in 7 to 28 days once we have agreed a price and your legal authority to sell is in place, and the fastest we have done is 7 days. There is no mortgage lender, no survey down-valuation, and no chain. Our written offer is valid for 14 days, and it would only change if conveyancing turned up something material, such as a title or structural problem. If you need a later date, for example to wind down a deferred payment agreement or clear belongings, we hold to whatever date suits the family.
Yes. We buy in any condition, including homes that have been empty for years, need full modernisation, or have issues like damp, an outdated layout, or title quirks. You don't need to clear, clean, or repair anything before selling. Because we aren't relying on a mortgage survey, the condition doesn't put the sale at risk the way it can on the open market.
You can, provided you are acting in the person's best interests and can show why. The legal test mirrors what the courts expect of executors in Buttle v Saunders [1950]. It is the best price reasonably obtainable, weighing certainty, condition, carrying costs and the ongoing care bill, not the highest theoretical figure. Keep a valuation, the written offer, and a short note of your reasons. A genuine market-based discount to a cash buyer is very different from giving the property away, which can need Court of Protection approval. Take advice if you are unsure.
The money belongs to the person whose home it was. It is held and used for their benefit, usually to pay their care fees and their other needs. As an attorney or deputy you manage it on their behalf and keep clear records. Depending on your role, you may need to report to the Office of the Public Guardian or the Court of Protection. If a deferred payment agreement or a council charge is in place, what is owed to the council is repaid from the sale money first.
Tell the care home and the council straight away, before the payment is actually missed. The care home contract is a private agreement, so unpaid fees can build up and, at worst, lead to notice being given. Many homes will work with you once they know a sale or a deferred payment agreement is under way. Ask the council about one, as it can cover the fees until the house sells.
Usually, yes, wait. The first 12 weeks of a permanent placement come with a property disregard, so the value of the home is ignored in the means test for that period. That buys you time. If the stay might turn out to be temporary, or she may come back home, a sale is very hard to undo. We would far rather you used those weeks than rushed into anything.
The sale stops. A power of attorney or a deputyship ends the moment the person dies. The house then forms part of the estate, and the executors or administrators take over. They will usually need a grant of probate or letters of administration before they can complete a sale. It is upsetting, and it does add a delay. We buy during probate as well, so we can speak to whoever is dealing with the estate and pick things back up when the grant arrives.
Yes, you can still sell with a deferred payment agreement in place. Your solicitor asks the council for a redemption figure, which is the fees, interest and admin charges owed so far. That amount is paid to the council out of the sale money at completion, and the charge on the house comes off. Whatever is left belongs to your relative. Ask the council for the figure early, because it can take them a while.
No. The money moves once, at completion, from our solicitor to yours, and your solicitor passes it on to you. We don't release funds before completion, and we never ask you for money either. If the gap in timing is the real problem, ask the council about a deferred payment agreement, or ask the care home whether they will hold the balance while a completion date is fixed.
Usually yes, but read the agency contract first. Most sole agency agreements have a tie-in period and a notice period, and some charge a fee if you sell to a buyer they introduced. Ask the agent in writing when you are free to sell elsewhere. Once that is clear, we can give you a written offer the same day, valid for 14 days, and complete in 7 to 28 days.
It depends on how the power of attorney was set up. If the attorneys were appointed jointly, every one of you has to agree and sign, so nothing moves until you do. If it says jointly and severally, any one attorney can act alone, though it is far better to agree first. Check the wording on the registered document. If you are stuck, an hour with a solicitor or a mediator costs less than a family fallout.
You can, and it sometimes works, but rent rarely covers a full care bill on its own. The house still counts in the means test whether it is let or not, and the rent is taken into account too, so ask the council how it would be treated. You also take on a landlord's duties, repairs, safety checks and empty periods on top of everything else. If the place needs work before anyone could live in it, the sums often stop adding up. Weigh it against a deferred payment agreement.
Almost always the paperwork that proves you can sell, not the buyer. The registered LPA or deputyship order, ID checks for each attorney, and the title at the Land Registry are the usual sticking points, especially with old deeds or unregistered land. Get all of that in front of a solicitor early. When it is ready, a cash sale can complete in 7 to 28 days, and the fastest we have done is 7 days.
Get your free, no-obligation cash offer
Tell us about the property and your relative's situation. We will send a written cash offer the same day, valid for 14 days. It will be our best offer on what you have told us, not an opening number we work up from. No pressure and no obligation.
Get a Free Cash OfferGuides that might help right now
Buttle v Saunders and Defending a Cash Sale
What the case really asks of executors, attorneys and deputies weighing certainty against headline price.
Read guide →
How to Value a House for Probate
How to get a valuation figure you can stand behind, and why the paperwork behind it matters later.
Read guide →
The Empty Property Council Tax Premium
When the bill doubles, which South Yorkshire councils apply it, and how families get caught out.
Read guide →Talk to us once you know where the family stands
Tell us about the property and the care situation. No fees, no obligation, and if a deferred payment agreement serves your relative better we'll say so.
Our promise to you: We will never pressure you into a sale. Your enquiry is completely confidential. If we make you an offer and it isn't right for you, there is absolutely no obligation to proceed.