How do I get funding for a care home?
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If your relative is assessed as needing care and wants to apply for financial help, the local authority will carry out a financial assessment (also known as a ‘means test’) of your relative’s income, savings and assets to decide how much help they can give.
However, local authorities only have a responsibility to:
arrange residential care for everyone who is assessed as needing it and if they are unable to make their own arrangements.
contribute to the cost of care for people who fit their eligibility criteria (in the form of the needs assessment) and cannot afford to fund themselves.
So, regardless of your relative’s financial situation, if you think they need care in a residential or nursing care home, take the following steps.
1. Get a needs assessment
You will get this from the social services department of your relative's local authority. To find a local authority, enter your relative's postcode in our Care services directory and use the drop-down window for Local authority services.
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Local authorities have a legal duty to carry out a needs assessment of anyone that they think might be eligible for local authority care. This gives a professional assessment of the type of care that your relative needs in the form of a written care plan.
For more details about the needs assessment – how it is carried out, how to prepare for it and eligibility criteria – see Accessing local authority and NHS care and support.
2. Read the care plan
In the case of residential care, the care plan might recommend that your relative needs personal care, nursing care or a specialist home, for example for people with dementia. Or the care plan might suggest alternatives to residential care. It may be that your relative’s needs can be met at home – with Domiciliary Care or through Sheltered housing.