Elderly care

The care home sector is long established but remains challenging in many respects, not least from a reputational perspective. For investors it is an investible asset class, and here is a well established market for strong operator covenants. However, the sector is heavily regulated and whether you are looking to invest in services, deliver them or develop them you need advisers who understand the many nuances and know the key sector players.

Our team is well connected across the sector allowing it a deep insight into the market. This is coupled with a detailed understanding of the CQC regulatory regime, alongside all the relevant regulatory frameworks which apply to the provision of care homes such as mental capacity and health and safety. While knowing the law should be a given for any legal adviser, our approach is to ensure that this joined up regulatory and wider market knowledge is applied across all aspects of your business, whether we are working in an advisory role or on a specific transaction, meaning you see the benefit of our wealth of experience in everything you do.

We have extensive experience advising for- and not-for-profit businesses and investors on mergers and acquisitions and on the development or acquisition of care home businesses and assets, whether in a real estate or a corporate wrapper. We have particular expertise in the forward-funded development of new build care homes for investors with an operator tied to a lease of the developed asset, acting on all sides of such transactions.

Our team has advised care home operators with all aspects of their businesses from real estate to staffing to adverse incident avoidance and management.

In brief

• The sale and the acquisition of care homes as operating businesses 

• The employment and pensions aspects of care home operation 

• Putting in place multi-tier arrangements for the operation, management and financing of care businesses

• Advising on operational issues from CQC regulatory advice, adverse incident management, inquests, consumer rights law and contracts with service users, commissioner contracts and management of those contracts

• The development, purchase and sale of care homes as an investment, acting for both buyers and sellers often operating on lease-based models