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Refurbish or rebuild: No one-size-fits-all answer for tomorrow’s care home estate


Care home operators weighing up whether to refurbish tired stock or rebuild should start with a “forensic scheme appraisal” and avoid gut instinct about “old versus new,” care funding and finance experts have said. At a Care Innovation Summit panel


supported by The Care Home Environment, speakers said there is no universal answer - only what works for a given asset, market and business plan. The panel - Knight Frank’s Kieron Cole,


Virgin Money’s Neil Dyer, Civitas’ Tom Falconer, Cygnet Bank’s Richard Martin and Housing21’s Rupert Lecomber - said operators’ assessment must include local demand and competition, operating performance and occupancy, space standards, ensuites and accessibility, energy and ESG, and the full lifecycle investment still required.


Polishing a “proverbial” Operators should avoid assumptions about “old versus new” and test each scheme on its merits, the panel said. Rupert Lecomber of Housing21 warned


against “polishing a proverbial” by spending heavily on a building that remains badly located, inflexible or difficult to bring up to future energy standards.


Smaller, well-located homes can beat big boxes The panel said bigger purpose-built homes are not automatically better. Refurbishment is often cheaper - about half the cost of a like-for-like new build - and can preserve income during works while avoiding the


upheaval of moving people. But schemes still need layouts, ESG and


fire safety arrangements that will remain fit for purpose in 10-15 years, the panel warned.


Energy, valuation and capacity pressures The panel also stressed that heating systems and energy networks are now strategic issues. Mr Falconer urged operators to use specialist advisers to target measures that genuinely cut bills and carbon, not marginal EPC gains. From a lending perspective, Virgin


Money’s Neil Dyer said modern, efficient stock attracts better pricing and stronger demand, though he added there remains a “significant market” for more modest accommodation, especially in local authority- funded care, albeit at lower valuation multiples and with higher upgrade costs. Meanwhile, constrained capacity is driving


more refurbishment decisions. Mr Cole said an estimated 20,000-bed shortfall by 2030 means such work is becoming an operational necessity as operators and funders maximise viable existing stock.


Macc Care secures backing for 71 bed build on brownfield site


Midlands-based operator Macc Care is to begin development of its 21st home after securing backing from specialist lender Paragon Development Finance, which is looking to ‘diversify into sectors increasingly critical to the UK’s long-term housing and care needs’. The Paragon funding deal will support


the delivery of a 71-bed purpose-built scheme in Birmingham.


8 www.thecarehomeenvironment.com July 2026 The specialist lender said its backing


would enable the care home group to acquire a brownfield site on Shaftmoor Lane in Hall Green, Birmingham, to develop the 44,132 sq ft, purpose-built care home. The completed asset is expected to achieve a mature trading value in excess of £25m, according to the real estate financing arm of the Paragon Banking Group, which is also midlands based.


Macc Care chief executive Dr Naz Nathani


said the said the provider “valued the collaborative approach” taken by Paragon, adding “we look forward to..undertaking further transactions.”


Care home occupancy remains uneven across England


Use of available care home beds is high across England, with specialist nursing beds in shorter supply, according to the latest quarterly statistics published by the government.


Care home occupancy across England remained high in the three months to May 2026, with significant regional variation and continued pressure on vacancies, according to the official figures.


The adult social care provider statistics quarterly update to May 2026 shows that 86.1 per cent of all care home beds were occupied in the week ending 14 May 2026, based on returns from 93 per cent of care home providers in England.


This is a slight increase on rates recorded in May last year, when data was recorded monthly, which showed that 85.7 per cent of total care home beds were occupied.


The data also shows that nursing vacancies remain more constrained than residential beds, with fewer available for people with more complex needs.


Regional variation


London recorded the highest average occupancy at 90.6 per cent, followed by the North East at between 87.3 per cent and 88.8 per cent, compared to the lowest rates in the East Midlands, which recorded 82.2 per cent to 82.5 per cent, and Yorkshire and the Humber, which averaged around 84.3 per cent.


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