Can I Sell My Parent’s House in Scotland to Pay for Care Home Fees?

Your mum or dad has moved into a care home, or soon will, and the fees are arriving every four weeks. Their house is sitting empty, the council has asked about their savings, and you are trying to work out whether the house has to be sold, who is allowed to sell it and how quickly the money is needed.

It is a hard time to be dealing with paperwork. This guide sets out how care home charging works in Scotland in 2026/27, when the house counts towards the fees, who has the legal authority to sell it, and the practical steps that make a sale smoother for everyone in the family.

The short answer is yes, but only with the right legal authority. If your parent still has capacity, they can sell the house themselves or ask you to help. If they no longer have capacity, the sale must be made by an attorney under a registered continuing power of attorney, or by a guardian appointed by the sheriff court. The council usually counts the house as capital after a 12 week disregard, unless a partner or certain relatives still live there, and a deferred payment agreement can delay the sale if it suits the family better.

Who can legally sell my parent’s house in Scotland?

Being a son or daughter, even the next of kin, does not give you any right to sell your parent’s house. The person with authority depends on whether your parent can still make their own decisions.

Situation	Who can sell	What is needed
Parent has capacity	Your parent	Their own instructions to a solicitor. You can help with the practical side.
Parent has lost capacity and has a continuing power of attorney	The attorney named in the document	A power of attorney registered with the Office of the Public Guardian that includes power to deal with property.
Parent has lost capacity and has no power of attorney	A financial guardian, or a person authorised by an intervention order	An application to the sheriff court under the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000. A guardian also needs the Public Guardian’s consent to sell the adult’s home.
Parent has died	The executor	Confirmation from the sheriff court, in most cases.

If your parent still has capacity

Moving into a care home does not mean someone has lost capacity. Many people in care homes can still understand and decide about selling their home, even if they need help with the practical side. In that case, your parent instructs the solicitor and signs the documents, and you can support them through it.

If there is a continuing power of attorney

A continuing power of attorney is the Scottish document that lets someone manage another person’s money and property. It must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used, and it must include powers wide enough to sell heritable property. Our guide on whether you need a power of attorney to sell someone else’s property explains how it works in more detail.

If there is no power of attorney

If your parent has lost capacity and never granted a power of attorney, it is too late to create one. A family member, usually with a solicitor’s help, must apply to the sheriff court for a guardianship order with financial powers, or for an intervention order covering the sale. These applications need medical reports and can take several months, so it is worth starting early if a sale is likely.

How much does my parent have to pay towards care home fees in Scotland?

The council carries out a financial assessment under its charging rules, based on the Scottish Government’s Charging for Residential Accommodation Guidance (CRAG). For 2026/27 the capital limits are:

• Upper capital limit: £36,750. With more than this in capital, your parent pays the full standard or contracted fee, less any free personal and nursing care payments.
• Lower capital limit: £22,750. Capital at or below this level is ignored completely.
• Between the two limits, the council counts £1 a week of assumed income for every £250, or part of £250, above £22,750.

These figures rose in April 2026 from £35,500 and £22,000. Income such as the State Pension and occupational pensions is also assessed, with a weekly personal expenses allowance left for your parent to spend on themselves.

What free personal and nursing care covers

Scotland provides free personal care for everyone assessed as needing it, whatever their age or wealth. The Community Care (Personal Care and Nursing Care) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2026 set the weekly amounts from 1 April 2026 at £260.30 for personal care and £117.10 for nursing care. These are usually paid straight to the care home and reduce what your parent pays, but care home fees are typically far higher, so most of the cost of accommodation and living expenses still falls on the resident if they have capital above the upper limit.

Does my parent’s house count towards care home fees?

Usually, yes, once the stay becomes permanent. The value of the home, less any mortgage or other secured debts and an allowance for selling costs, is treated as capital. If your parent owns the house jointly with someone else, only their share counts.

The 12 week property disregard

Under CRAG, the home is ignored for the first 12 weeks of a permanent stay, counted from the date of permanent admission. During that time, if your parent’s other capital is below the upper limit, the council helps with the fees. If the house is sold within the 12 weeks, the disregard ends on the date of sale. A temporary or respite stay does not count as permanent, and the home is ignored throughout a temporary stay if your parent intends to return.

When the house is ignored altogether

The house is disregarded for as long as it is lived in by certain people, including:

• Your parent’s husband, wife or partner.
• A relative aged 60 or over.
• A relative who is incapacitated or disabled.
• A child under 16 whom your parent supports.
• A former partner who is a lone parent, in some circumstances.

Councils also have discretion to ignore the house in other cases, for example where a carer gave up their own home to look after your parent. If you live in the house, tell the council at the start of the assessment rather than assuming it will be counted.

Does the house have to be sold to pay care home fees?

Not necessarily. The council can count the house as capital, but it cannot force a sale. Families have three broad options once the 12 week disregard ends:

1. Sell the house and use the proceeds to pay the fees until capital falls towards the upper limit.
2. Keep and let the house, using the rent towards the fees. This brings landlord registration, safety obligations and tenancy rules, so it is not a simple choice.
3. Enter a deferred payment agreement, so the council pays the fees and recovers them from the house later.

Where fees are left unpaid and there is no agreement, the council can recover the debt. Section 23 of the Health and Social Services and Social Security Adjudications Act 1983 allows a Scottish council to register a charging order over the debtor’s interest in land, which works like a standard security and must be repaid when the house is sold.

What is a deferred payment agreement in Scotland?

Under section 6 of the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 and regulations made under it, councils can agree to pay care home fees and recover the money later from the house. Councils must make people aware of the scheme, but they can refuse an application, and each council sets its own detailed criteria.

Typical conditions in council policies include:

• Capital, apart from the house, at or below the lower limit.
• Enough equity in the house to cover a reasonable period of fees.
• The ability to grant the council a standard security over the house, with any joint owners agreeing.
• Insurance kept in place on the property.

The deferred amount is usually interest free while the agreement runs. If your parent dies, the debt typically becomes repayable from the estate, with interest charged if it is not repaid within 56 days. Ask your council for its own deferred payment policy, as terms vary.

Can my parent give the house to us to avoid care home fees?

This is one of the most common questions families ask, and the answer is that it rarely works. CRAG allows the council to treat your parent as still owning an asset they have given away if one significant reason for the transfer was to reduce care charges. This is known as deprivation of capital, and the value is then counted as notional capital.

Councils look at timing and purpose. A gift made years ago when your parent was well, with no care needs in view, is treated very differently from a transfer made shortly before a care home admission. If the house was given away within six months before admission or during the stay, the council can also use section 21 of the 1983 Act to pass liability for the fees to the person who received it.

Transferring the house can bring other problems too. The recipient may face Capital Gains Tax when they sell, because the main residence relief belonged to your parent rather than to them. An attorney also has no power to make large gifts of the adult’s property unless the document clearly allows it, and even then must act in your parent’s interests.

When is the best time to sell a parent’s house for care home fees?

There is no single right moment, but a few points help with timing:

• Use the 12 weeks. The disregard gives time to obtain authority, clear the house and choose how to sell.
• Watch the fees build. Once the disregard ends, fees accrue every week the house is unsold, either as a debt to the care home or as a council debt secured on the house.
• Factor in running costs. An empty house still needs heating, insurance, factor charges and maintenance.
• Plan for the capital limit. Once the proceeds are spent down towards £36,750, the council should reassess, so keep an eye on the balance.

An open market sale in Scotland typically takes several months from listing to settlement. Our guides on how long it takes to sell a house in Scotland and how soon you get paid after selling help you plan around the fees.

What should I do about the empty house?

Insurance

Tell the insurer as soon as your parent moves out. Many home insurance policies restrict cover once a property has been unoccupied for a set period, and may require regular inspections, the water to be drained down or the heating left on. Specialist unoccupied property insurance is available if the standard policy will not continue.

Council tax

In Scotland, an unoccupied home is exempt from council tax, with no time limit, where the person who would be liable has moved permanently into a hospital or care home. Apply to the council that issues the bill. If there are already arrears on the account, our guide on selling a house with council tax arrears in Scotland explains how they are usually dealt with on a sale.

Security and the contents

Remove valuables and important papers, redirect the post, and ask a neighbour to keep an eye on the property. Clearing a lifetime of belongings is often the hardest part emotionally, and our guide on whether you have to clear the house before selling may take some pressure off.

How do we handle disagreements between siblings?

Selling a family home can bring old tensions to the surface. One sibling may want to keep the house, another may want to sell quickly, and a third may live further away and feel left out. It helps to remember that the house belongs to your parent, not to the family, and the decision must be made in their interests.

• Share the council’s financial assessment, so everyone sees the same figures.
• Get an independent valuation or Home Report, so there is an objective view of the price.
• Keep written records of decisions, offers and how the money is used.
• If a sibling wants to buy the house, make sure it is at full market value, with separate legal advice.

If there are several interested buyers, our guide on whether you have to set a closing date explains how to handle competing offers fairly. Where the house is jointly owned with someone other than your parent, see our guide on selling a jointly owned property in Scotland.

Will there be Capital Gains Tax on the sale?

Usually not, if the house was your parent’s only or main home and they are the one selling it, through an attorney or guardian if necessary. Private residence relief covers the period the house was their main home, and the final period of ownership always qualifies.

That final period is normally nine months. HMRC’s private residence relief helpsheet explains that it can extend to 36 months for a long term care home resident or disabled person who has no other relevant private residence. Our guide on Capital Gains Tax when you sell your home covers the general rules, but a tax adviser should check your parent’s position if the house has been empty for longer or was ever let.

What happens if my parent dies before the house is sold?

A power of attorney or guardianship ends on death. The house then forms part of the estate, and the executor needs confirmation before it can be sold in most cases. Any care home fees or deferred payment debt are paid from the estate before the beneficiaries receive their share.

Our guides on selling a house as an executor and selling an inherited house in Scotland explain the next steps. The council tax exemption for a deceased person’s home continues while confirmation is awaited and for up to six months after it is granted.

What documents will we need to sell?

Gather these early, because missing paperwork is a common cause of delay:

• The registered power of attorney, guardianship order or intervention order.
• Identification for your parent and for the attorney or guardian, for anti money laundering checks.
• Title deeds, mortgage details and any building warrants for alterations.
• Council tax, utility and factor details, and the council’s financial assessment.

Our full list of documents you need to sell a house in Scotland covers the rest.

How can a cash sale help when care home fees are mounting?

A cash sale can suit families who need certainty more than the highest possible price. It can help where the house needs work, is dated or has not been lived in for a while, where nobody lives nearby to manage viewings, or where fees are building up week by week. Many older family homes fall into this group, which is why our page on selling a hard to sell property may be relevant.

A cash buyer does not need a mortgage or lender approval, can buy the house as seen with the contents still inside, and lets you choose the date of entry. That can be useful if you are an attorney trying to manage the sale from a distance, or if the house is a former council property, which our guide on selling an ex-council house in Scotland covers.

A cash sale will not suit every family. If the house is in good condition, in an area with strong demand and the fees are covered for now, an open market sale may achieve more, and as an attorney or guardian you must be able to show the price was reasonable for your parent. Cash buyers generally offer below full market value in return for speed, as our guide on why cash buyers pay less explains. Comparing a cash offer with a Home Report valuation is a sensible way to show you acted in their best interests.

Before you decide, speak to a solicitor about your authority to sell, and consider independent advice from Age Scotland or Care Information Scotland about the council’s assessment. We buy homes across Scotland, from Glasgow to Ayrshire and beyond.

Frequently asked questions

Can the council force us to sell my parent’s house?

No. The council can count the house as capital and can secure unpaid fees against it through a deferred payment agreement or a charging order, but it cannot make you sell. The debt is repaid when the house is eventually sold.

Is my parent’s house counted if my other parent still lives there?

No. The home is disregarded for as long as your parent’s husband, wife or partner continues to live there. The same applies to a relative aged 60 or over, or an incapacitated relative, who lives there.

Can I sell my parent’s house with a lasting power of attorney?

A lasting power of attorney is the English and Welsh document. For a house in Scotland, you would normally need a continuing power of attorney registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, and a solicitor can advise whether an English document can be relied on in your case.

Do we have to sell the house within 12 weeks?

No. The 12 week disregard is simply the period when the house is ignored in the financial assessment. After that it counts as capital, but you can still take longer to sell, let it or ask for a deferred payment agreement.

What happens to the money from the sale?

The proceeds belong to your parent. After the mortgage and selling costs, the money goes into their account, managed by them or their attorney or guardian, and is used to pay the fees until their capital falls towards the upper limit.

Can a cash buyer buy the house with furniture still inside?

Yes. A cash buyer can usually buy the house as seen, which means you can remove what the family wants to keep and leave the rest, rather than arranging a full clearance before the sale.