Families often ask whether Scotland caps what you pay for a care home, the way England was meant to. It doesn't. England's cap never started either.
The short answer
Nothing limits the total you can pay for care home accommodation in Scotland. England had planned a cap of £86,000, due to start in October 2025. The government scrapped it in July 2024, so neither country has one today.
Scotland does something different. The state pays a fixed weekly amount towards personal care and nursing care. Everything else about a care home place is charged to you, with no ceiling.
What Scotland pays for
From 1 April 2026, anyone the council assesses as needing personal care gets £260.30 a week. If they need nursing care in a care home, there is a further £117.10. Neither is means-tested, so savings and property make no difference. For a self-funder, the council pays the home directly and the home takes that amount off the bill.
The amounts are flat. Say a home charges £1,400 a week (an example, not a typical price). After the personal care contribution you pay £1,139.70. If the fee rises, the contribution stays where it is.
What you still pay, and when the council helps
The rest is accommodation: your room, meals, heating, laundry and the building itself. Whether the council helps with that depends on your capital, which means savings, investments and sometimes property. From April 2026 the limits are:
- Above £36,750, you pay the full accommodation charge yourself.
- Between £22,750 and £36,750, the council works out a contribution from your capital as well as your income.
- Below £22,750, your capital is ignored. You pay from income, usually pensions, and keep a personal allowance of £37.65 a week.
The limits are reviewed each April.
What happens to your home
The council doesn't count your home for the first 12 weeks of a permanent stay. It also ignores the home while your husband, wife or partner lives in it, or while a relative lives there who is 60 or over or incapacitated. If none of that applies, the house counts as capital.
For most owners that takes them over £36,750. They pay the full fee until their remaining capital drops below the limit.
Selling isn't the only route. A deferred payment agreement lets some people put off part of the cost until the home is sold or the estate is settled. The council takes a standard security over the property for the amount deferred. It is open to people whose income and capital, leaving the property out, can't meet the fees. Ask the council whether you qualify before you decide to sell.
Scotland and England side by side
| Scotland | England | |
|---|---|---|
| Lifetime cap on care costs | None | None. The planned £86,000 cap was scrapped in July 2024 |
| Free personal care | Yes, for any adult assessed as needing it | No. Personal care is means-tested |
| Weekly contribution, 2026/27 | £260.30 personal care, £117.10 nursing care | NHS-funded nursing care for those who qualify |
| Capital limits for help with fees | Upper £36,750, lower £22,750 | Upper £23,250, lower £14,250 |
England's limits are set by the UK government. Check gov.uk for the current figures if you are dealing with a parent in England.
Why people think there is a cap
The English cap was announced in 2021 and made headlines. It was delayed, then cancelled. The coverage reached Scotland, and free personal care sounds similar enough that the two blur together.
They are different things. A cap would limit what you pay over a lifetime. Free personal care covers a fixed slice of the weekly bill and leaves the rest.
What families can do before care is needed
Start with a power of attorney while there is still capacity to grant one. Without it, your family has no automatic authority to deal with your money or arrange care, and the alternative is a guardianship order from the sheriff court.
Ask the council for a needs assessment early, because free personal care depends on it. Then find out how your home, savings and income would be treated, before a decision has to be made in a hurry.
Take advice before giving money or property away. The council can treat assets you have given away to avoid fees as still yours, and the rules have no time limit. Our guide to giving away assets to avoid care fees explains how that works. Long-term care planning puts the numbers in front of you instead of guesses.