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US real estate giants drive fresh wave of UK care home investment as demand and fees surge
A surge of US real estate capital is reshaping the UK care property market, with care home values rising and prime assets changing hands at record levels, delegates heard at the second annual Care Leaders Summit. Delivering a detailed market update to open
the invite only conference organised by Care Shop, Christie & Co healthcare managing director Richard Lunn said the sector had shifted from a niche “alternative” asset into a core target for global investors, underpinned by rising occupancy, strong demographics and doubledigit private fee growth. Mr Lunn told operators that average UK
care home occupancy now sits at around 90 per cent, with more than a third of providers running at over 95 per cent. “We consistently sell over 60 per cent of the care homes that get transacted every year in the UK,” he said, adding that Christie & Co handled over £1bn of care home deals last year across 280 transactions. “We are in a space where people understand
the market, they want to be interested in it, and increasingly there is greater capital coming in,” he added.
US REITs reshape the top end of the market Mr Lunn highlighted the rapid expansion of US real estate investment trusts (REITs) such as Welltower, which has led almost £10bn of UK care home acquisitions in the last 18 months, including major groups such as Barchester and HCOne. He added that superprime, privatepay new
builds are still achieving in excess of 10 times annual operating earnings, and more than £300,000 per bed, despite higher interest rates, with overall healthcare values up 7.1 per cent last year and likely to rise further. At the same time, Mr Lunn reported
that private fees of £2,000 a week are now “regularly” achieved in some markets, with operators relying on self funders to offset far
slower local authority uplifts. Development remains the “hardest” part of
the market, he warned, citing sixyear timelines from commissioning to opening and build costs that only stack up in affluent, privatepay locations.
Innovation, workforce and regulation under the spotlight At a later Care Sector Innovation Panel, leaders from across the sector discussed how technology, leadership and regulation must evolve alongside the real estate market. Panellists, including Ardoch Group managing
director Sandra Stark and the Institute of Health and Social Care Management’s Jon Wilks, and warned that inspection regimes focused on “finding fault” risk driving fear rather than quality improvement. And former Barchester deputy director
of nursing Ross Joannides told delegates that largescale US ownership had, in his experience, sharpened focus on frontline care: “The actual care has improved, and there’s
more focus on it now, especially at the senior level,” he said, pointing to more robust data and accountability since the Welltower acquisition of the group.
CareTrust REIT UK care homes investment reaches almost £300m
US healthcare property investor CareTrust REIT has revealed it has invested $397 million (£294 million) into UK care homes so far this year as part of a wider $1.5 billion (£1.1 bn) investment programme across its healthcare real estate portfolio.
The real estate investment trust
(REIT) disclosed the figure in its second- quarter 2026 financial presentation, which highlighted UK care homes as a key growth market alongside US skilled nursing and senior housing operations. CareTrust REIT, which entered the UK
market last year after acquiring Care REIT, now owns 139 care facilities across the UK with around 8,200 beds, concentrated particularly in the North West of England, Scotland, the West Midlands and Yorkshire & the Humber, ranging from
an investment pipeline of approximately $540m (£400m), including additional opportunities involving UK care homes. CareTrust REIT’s continued expansion
is part of increased interest in the UK care home sector from REITs attracted by long-term demographic demand and opportunities to deploy large-scale capital. US healthcare property giant Welltower
smaller specialist facilities of around 20 to 40 beds through to larger care centres accommodating more than 100 residents. It reported approximately $1.5 bn (£1.1
bn) of investment activity year to date, with around $900 million (£667m) rolled out during the second quarter alone, and
has rapidly built a substantial UK footprint through a series of major acquisitions covering hundreds of care homes operated by groups including Barchester, HC-One, Aria Care and Danforth Care. However, the scale of its transactions triggered a Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation amid concerns the deals could reduce competition in some local care markets.
September 2026
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