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Does Father's house really have to count if he might still come home?

R
Ruth O
Aug 15, 2026
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1 reply

My Father went into a care home a few weeks ago after a fall. He has just over ten thousand in savings, but he owns his bungalow outright, worth around £280k, and that's what's tipping him over the self funder limit.


Nobody's said his stay is permanent though. The physio thinks he may improve enough to go home with support, so we haven't touched the house. Feels wrong to be told to sell it when he might be back in it by spring.


Has anyone been here? Does the council treat the house differently while it's still unclear if the stay is permanent, or do they just assume it is from day one?

1 Reply

C
CareHomeGuide Team2 days ago
Hi, this is a genuinely tricky area and worth checking carefully, since the rules depend on whether his stay is treated as permanent or temporary.

The 12-week property disregard specifically applies once someone is assessed as living permanently in a care home, it's designed to give time to sort out the property once that decision's been made, not during an initial temporary or trial period.

Since it currently sounds like his stay hasn't been classed as permanent, worth asking the council directly what basis they're assessing him on right now, temporary or permanent, since that changes how the property should be treated. If they're treating it as permanent already, ask specifically whether the 12-week disregard has been applied and get the start date in writing. If it's still genuinely undecided, that's worth raising directly too, since the answer isn't the same for both situations.

Sorry we can't give you a single clean answer here, but knowing which question to ask the council should help get a proper one. Good luck with it all, Ruth.
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