Free · no sign-up · nothing storedLaw checked 2 November 2026

Care Home Fees: How Long Will Savings Last? (England)

How long will savings last in a care home?

Take the weekly fee, subtract weekly income, and divide the savings above £23,250 by that gap. At £1,300 a week with £355.90 of pension and Attendance Allowance, £150,000 pays the full fee for 31 months. Then the council's means test applies, with £1 a week of tariff income for every £250 above £14,250.

In England there is no cap on what a person pays for a care home: the planned £86,000 cap was not taken forward. Savings pay the full fee until they fall to £23,250, and the home counts too unless a partner or qualifying relative still lives there.

Type the weekly fee, the savings and the weekly income. The calculator works month by month, adds the home after the first 12 weeks if it counts, and shows the split of the fee once the council helps.

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Built by Muhammad Shahzeb Anwar, MSc Industrial and Organizational Psychology. England's means test only; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use different limits.

The calculator

Work out how long the savings last

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Money and home

The resident's own share. Joint accounts usually count half.
No if there is no home, or a partner or qualifying relative lives there.
Counted at value less 10% for sale costs. Used only if the home counts.

Fees and income, per week

Ask the council. Kept at today's figure here.
State Pension plus other pensions. Full new State Pension 2026-27: £241.30.

The two limits and tariff income

For 2026-27 the limits in England are unchanged: an upper capital limit of £23,250 and a lower capital limit of £14,250. Above £23,250 the person pays the full fee. Capital at or below £14,250 is ignored. In between, the council treats the savings as income: £1 a week for every £250, or part of £250, above £14,250. At £23,250 that is £36 a week.

Once the council helps, the person pays their weekly income (State Pension and other pensions) plus that tariff income, keeping a personal expenses allowance of £31.80 a week. The council pays the rest of its usual rate. Attendance Allowance is not usually paid once the council pays for the care home.

A worked example

Savings of £150,000, no home counted, a fee of £1,300 a week, and income of £355.90 a week (the full new State Pension of £241.30 plus the higher rate of Attendance Allowance, £114.60). The gap paid from savings is £944.10 a week, or £4,091.10 a month (52 weeks divided by 12).

The savings are still above £23,250 at the start of month 31. At the start of month 32 they are £150,000 minus 31 months of £4,091.10, which is £23,175.90. Tariff income is £8,925.90 divided by £250, rounded up: £36 a week. Attendance Allowance stops, so the person pays £241.30 − £31.80 + £36 = £245.50 a week. With a council rate of £1,000, the council pays £754.50 and the remaining £300 a week is a top-up.

The home: 12 weeks, then counted (or not)

The home is valued at its market value less 10% for the costs of selling and less any mortgage. It is not counted for the first 12 weeks of a permanent stay. It is not counted at all while a partner, a relative aged 60 or over or incapacitated, or a child under 18 lives there.

If the home counts but other savings are £23,250 or less, the council must offer a deferred payment agreement: it pays the fees and is repaid later, usually from the sale. Councils may charge interest up to a national maximum, a gilts-based rate plus 0.15%, reset each January and July. This calculator shows the simpler route, counting the home from month 4 as if it were sold.

Top-ups, and what is changing

If the home charges more than the council's usual rate, the difference is a top-up. The resident may pay it from their own money only during the 12-week property disregard or under a deferred payment agreement; otherwise a third party, often family, pays it.

The cap on care costs (£86,000) and the other charging reforms planned for October 2025 were not taken forward. Budget 2026, on 28 October 2026, set out a plan for free personal care in England through a National Care Service, with no start date or rules yet. Until rules are published, the means test on this page is the one that applies.

Before you rely on this

What this will not tell you

This is an estimate for England using the 2026-27 limits. It keeps income and the council's rate at today's figures, does not add interest, treats a couple's savings as you enter them (type the resident's own share), and does not model deferred payment interest, NHS continuing healthcare, funded nursing care, pension disregards for a partner at home, or the rules in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

Questions

Questions people actually ask

What happens when care home savings reach £23,250?

In England the council's means test applies. The person pays their income plus £1 a week for every £250 above £14,250, keeping £31.80 a week, and the council pays the rest of its usual rate. Ask the council for a financial assessment before the savings get there.

Is the house counted for care home fees?

Usually yes, after the first 12 weeks of a permanent stay, at its value less 10% for sale costs and any mortgage. It is not counted while a partner, a relative aged 60 or over or incapacitated, or a child under 18 still lives there.

What is tariff income for care home fees?

Capital between £14,250 and £23,250 is treated as £1 a week of income for every £250, or part of £250. £20,000 of savings gives £23 a week; £23,250 gives £36 a week.

Who pays the top-up for a care home?

Usually a third party, such as a family member, when the home charges more than the council's usual rate. The resident can pay it themselves only during the 12-week property disregard or under a deferred payment agreement.

Is there a cap on care home costs in England?

No. The £86,000 cap planned for October 2025 was not taken forward. Budget 2026 set out a plan for free personal care through a National Care Service, but with no start date or rules yet.

Does Attendance Allowance stop in a care home?

It is not usually paid if the council pays for the care home. A person paying all their own care home fees can still claim it, at £76.70 or £114.60 a week in 2026-27.

Where every rule comes from

Sources

Checked against the regulations and the official 2026-27 figures on 2 November 2026. Limits and rates change, usually each April; if a source below has moved on, the source wins over this page.

  1. DHSC, Social care charging for care and support 2026 to 2027 (capital limits and personal expenses allowance): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-care-charging-for-local-authorities-2026-to-2027/social-care-charging-for-care-and-support-2026-to-2027-local-authority-circular
  2. Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, regulation 25 (tariff income): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/2672/regulation/25
  3. Same Regulations, regulation 20 (valuing capital, 10% sale costs): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/2672/regulation/20
  4. Same Regulations, Schedule 2 (12-week and occupied-home disregards): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/2672/schedule/2
  5. Care and Support (Deferred Payment) Regulations 2014, regulation 2: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/2671/regulation/2
  6. Care and Support and Aftercare (Choice of Accommodation) Regulations 2014, regulation 5 (top-ups): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/2670/regulation/5
  7. GOV.UK, Attendance Allowance rates: https://www.gov.uk/attendance-allowance/what-youll-get
  8. GOV.UK, Attendance Allowance eligibility (care homes): https://www.gov.uk/attendance-allowance/eligibility
  9. GOV.UK, the new State Pension: https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/what-youll-get
  10. HM Treasury, Budget 2026: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2026-document/budget-2026-html
Citation

Cite this tool

Free to use and free to quote. If a figure here is useful in something you are writing, a link back is all that is asked.

Muhammad Shahzeb Anwar, MSc Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Care Home Fees: How Long Will Savings Last?. Shahzeb Speaks. https://www.shahzebspeaks.com/care-home-fees-how-long-will-savings-last/

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Planning the next ten years, not just the first?

The Care Home Runway Planner kit (Excel, Google Sheets and an offline HTML tool) adds yearly fee rises and the council's own rate rise, mortgages, interest, income rises, a 120-month table with a chart, a one-week means-test check, a payments log, print and save, and a plain-English guide. England's rules, estimates only.

Get the full planner, $24