Care home funding in Scotland 2025

Moving to a care home can be a difficult time for you and your loved ones. It is a big transition and finding a home you feel happy with is a daunting task in itself. On top of this, care home fees can be expensive, and whilst the cost is justified in the quality of care, the facilities, etc., working out how to cover the cost is often an added stress to an already challenging situation.

Understanding care homes fees, how you are assessed and what financial help you may be entitled to can help to make the process of finding a care home a little easier. 

Across the UK, each country has their own funding threshold. This means that the amount of capital you need to have to be eligible for funding is different. This advice applies to Scotland only, to read about care home funding in other parts of the UK, see here.

We also have information specific to England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

How much do care homes in Scotland cost

The cost of living in a care home differs depending on a range of factors including personal requirements, the location of the home, the facilities on offer, etc. 

The average weekly costs for care homes in Scotland are as follows:

Residential care home	Nursing care home
£1,266	£1,528

Different care homes do charge different fees and may add additional charges for different features, the above costs are only averages. Please check with individual care homes to ensure you know the total fees before you sign a contract. 

In Scotland, everyone, regardless of their income, assets or partner status, receives free personal and nursing (up to a certain limit) if they have been assessed by the local authority as needing it. However they will still have to contribute towards their accommodation costs in the care home.

From April 2024, the personal and nursing care payment rates are:

• £248.70 a week for personal care
• £111.90 a week for nursing care

What are the thresholds for care home funding in Scotland?

When you move to a care home, although in Scotland you will receive free personal and nursing care, you may be required to cover some or all of the rest of the costs for accommodation and food, etc. How much this will be will depend on your capital and assets. This will be determined through a financial means test, and you will be deemed to be either self-funded or state-funded. 

In Scotland, the thresholds for 2024/25 are:

Lower limit	Upper limit
£21,500	£35,000

This means that if your capital is above £35,000 you will be expected to fund your care home fees, you’ll be referred to as a self-funder or self-funded. If you have capital below the lower limit, you’ll get help with care home fees. This is known as state funded or publicly funded. 

If your capital is between the higher and lower limits, you’ll be assessed as though you have an extra £1 a week income for every £250 or part of £250 between the lower and upper limit.

What funding is available in Scotland to help with care home fees?

Council funding

If your capital is below the lower limit, the state will pay up to the following amounts:

• £948.59 a week for nursing care
• £825.94 a week for residential care

These are the maximum amounts of funding, but it doesn’t mean you will automatically be entitled to this much. How much funding you’ll receive will depend on the care needed and the fees charged by different care homes. 

You can pay a top-up fee if you want to stay in a care home that charges more than you will be eligible for, this means that you will pay the difference between the cost of the home and what funding you receive. To read more about top up fees, see here.

Bear in mind that if you are receiving funding, the council can decide whether a care home is suitable or not. If it doesn’t believe a home is suitable for your needs in the long term, then it could refuse to provide the funding for you to move there. 

Hospital based complex clinical care (HBCCC)

Hospital based complex clinical care allows people to receive the medical treatment they need outside of a hospital setting wherever possible. The NHS remains responsible for meeting these medical needs and will cover the costs. So for example, if you are discharged from a hospital to a care home, you’ll only need to pay for, or contribute towards, accommodation and social care costs. 

The eligibility for hospital based complex clinical care is based on one question:

Can your care needs be properly met in any setting other than a hospital?

If you have been in hospital for a while, an assessment will be carried out by a consultant or equivalent specialist (helped by the multi-disciplinary team) to decide on where the best place is to meet your needs. If this assessment deems the answer to the question to be yes, then you’ll be discharged to the most suitable setting. 

This will either be:

• Your own home with support.
• A care home.
• Supported accommodation.

Hospital based complex clinical care replaced NHS continuing healthcare in Scotland in 2015. Anybody who was already receiving this at the time will continue to do so for as long as they remain eligible. 

NHS-funded nursing care (FNC)

If you need to move into a nursing home and are not eligible for hospital based complex clinical care, the NHS may help you with the costs of the nursing care component of your fees. This is known as NHS-funded nursing care (FNC), which means the NHS contributes towards your fees by paying a flat rate directly to the care home.

In Scotland, this funding works slightly differently than the rest of the UK and is typically covered by the local council rather than the NHS. Anybody assessed as needing personal and/or nursing care is entitled to the funding when they move into a care home. 

Receiving FNC can have an impact on other benefits you may be receiving. If you receive a personal care allowance, you will not be entitled to Attendance Allowance, the care component of Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment after the first four weeks of receiving FNC. 

Read our article to find out more about FNC here.

What benefits can I get in Scotland while living in a care home?

Before you apply for a means test, it’s a good idea to ensure you are claiming all the benefits you are entitled to. These will be taken into account during your assessment and might impact the funding you receive. Some benefits will cease once you make a permanent move to a care home, so you will need to let your local benefits office know, but there are some benefits that you may still be entitled to whilst living at a care home.

These include:

• Basic State Pension and New State Pension 
• Pension Credit
• Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Attendance Allowance
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB)
• Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP)
• Universal Credit (UC)
• Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) 
• Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)

How will moving into a care home in Scotland affect my pension?

Similarly to other countries in the UK, moving into a care home will not affect your State Pension, you will still continue to receive your payments after you move. However, your pension will be counted as income when your contribution to your fees is assessed, which may mean that you need to use your pension payments to contribute to your care home fees. 

Personal Expenses Allowance

If you are state-funded, your State Pension will be used towards your care home fees, but a bit is set aside to ensure you have some money to spend. This is called Personal Expenses Allowance (PEA).

In Scotland, PEA is currently £34.50 a week.

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