The world’s ageing population is soaring. The UN forecasts the number of people aged 65 and older will more than double by 2050, reaching 1.6 billion. The UK won’t escape this grey tidal wave, with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) projecting that by 2050, one in four people in the UK will be aged 65 years and over, an increase from approximately one in five in 2019.
With more golden oldies than ever, golden investment opportunities in care home stocks could be up for grabs, but just like in bingo or an afternoon crossword – patience and clear thinking are a must. Here we’ll explain how to invest in care homes and what you need to know about care home shares in the UK and abroad.
Finding the best care home stocks is all about what works for your portfolio. Like care homes themselves, every stock and share has its strengths and weaknesses.
To compile our list of the best care home stocks, we looked at the top holdings from The Long-Term Care ETF (OLD), the only exchange-traded fund (ETF) focused entirely on investing in care home stocks (before it ceased trading). We’ve also included a few UK care home shares that weren’t in the fund but stood out in our research.
Nursing home stock |
Icon |
1-year performance (to Mar. '25) |
5-year performance (to Mar. '25) |
Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookdale Senior Living (BKD) |  |
1.33% | 169.03% | Invest Capital at risk |
| Care REIT plc (CRT) |  |
32.60% | 30.06% | Invest Capital at risk |
| EMEIS SA (EMEIS) |  |
N/A | 120.14% | Invest Capital at risk |
| The Ensign Group (ENSG) |  |
2.21% | 401.80% | Invest Capital at risk |
| Octopus Aim Vct Plc (OOA) |  |
-20.99% | -40.99% | Invest Capital at risk |
| Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI) |  |
22.30% | 42.02% | Invest Capital at risk |
| Aedifica (AED) |  |
19.04% | -29.58% | Invest Capital at risk |
| Sabra Healthcare REIT (SBRA) |  |
22.43% | 65.23% | Invest Capital at risk |
| Target Healthcare REIT Ltd (THRL) |  |
17.92% | -1.28% | Invest Capital at risk |
| Welltower (WELL) |  |
61.84% | 188.30% | Invest Capital at risk |
All investing should be regarded as longer term. The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please seek out a financial adviser. Capital at risk.
If you think the nursing home sector has big growth potential, with ageing populations and fewer families able to care for elderly relatives at home, you might want to get in on the action.
There are three main ways to invest in care homes, each with its own upsides and drawbacks.
Nursing home REIT stocks make money by renting out properties, and they get tax perks for distributing at least 90% of their income as dividends.
Here are some popular nursing home REIT stock examples in the UK and US:
Here are some of the key advantages with this type of way of investing in care homes:
Here are some of the main drawbacks to think about:
Unlike REITs, care home operators don’t just own the buildings. They also manage and provide nursing services, which are in growing demand as trained staff become harder to find.
Here are some popular examples of residential care home operators you can invest in:
Here are some key benefits of this strategy:
Here are some drawbacks of these care home stocks:
The only major care home-focused ETF, The Long-Term Care ETF (OLD), ceased trading in 2021. The closest alternative is the iShares UK Property UCITS ETF (IUKP), which includes some healthcare real estate but also invests in a diverse range of properties including warehouses, residential and self-storage properties.
An ETF is a basket of stocks that trades like a single share, giving investors exposure to multiple companies at once.
Here are some benefits of ETFs:
Here are some drawbacks to think about:
If you're interested in investing in this industry, take a closer look at what companies in this industry do and how the stocks have historically performed. Keep in mind that positive past performance doesn't guarantee that a stock will continue to rise in the future.
Brookdale Senior Living Inc. owns, manages, and operates senior living communities in the United States. It operates in three segments: Independent Living, Assisted Living and Memory Care, and Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs). The Independent Living segment owns or leases communities comprising independent and assisted living units in a single community that are primarily designed for middle to upper income seniors. The Assisted Living and Memory Care segment owns or leases communities consisting of freestanding, multi-story communities and freestanding, single-story communities, which offer housing and 24-hour assistance with activities of daily living for the Company's residents.
Brookdale Senior Living is listed on the NYSE, has a trailing 12-month revenue of around 3 billion and employs 24,480 staff.
Capital at risk
Impact Healthcare REIT plc acquires, renovates, extends and redevelops high quality healthcare real estate assets in the UK and lets these assets on long-term full repairing and insuring leases to high-quality established healthcare operators which offer good quality care, under leases which provide the Company with attractive levels of rent cover. The Company aims to provide shareholders with an attractive sustainable return, principally in the form of quarterly income distributions and with the potential for capital and income growth, through exposure to a diversified and resilient portfolio of UK healthcare real estate assets, in particular care homes for the elderly.
Care REIT is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
Capital at risk
emeis Société anonyme operates nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, post-acute and rehabilitation hospitals, and psychiatric hospitals. Its nursing home facilities provide personalized support services; and logistical and residential services, including accommodation, meals, and laundry and room cleaning, as well as various daily event, entertainment, and therapeutic workshop services. The company's post-acute and rehabilitation hospitals offer services for geriatrics, musculoskeletal, nervous system, cardiovascular, hematology, and oncology conditions, as well as patients in a persistent vegetative state or in a minimally conscious state.
EMEIS is listed on the PA, has a trailing 12-month revenue of around £5.4 billion and employs 78,000 staff.
Capital at risk
The Ensign Group, Inc. provides skilled nursing, senior living, and rehabilitative services. It operates through two segments: Skilled Services and Standard Bearer. The Skilled Services segment provides short and long-term nursing care services for patients with chronic conditions, prolonged illness, and the elderly; specialty care, such as on-site dialysis, ventilator care, cardiac, and pulmonary management; and standard services, such as room and board, special nutritional programs, social services, recreational activities, entertainment, and other services.
The Ensign Group is listed on the NASDAQ, has a trailing 12-month revenue of around €4.3 billion and employs 39,300 staff.
Capital at risk
Octopus Real Estate has been investing in the UK care home market since 2010 and currently has a portfolio of more than 60 high-quality care homes across the UK with around 3,800 nursing home residents in total.
Octopus Aim Vct is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
Capital at risk
Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc. is a Real Estate Investment Trust ("REIT") providing financing and capital to the long-term healthcare industry with a particular focus on skilled nursing facilities located in the United States and the United Kingdom. As of September 30, 2024, Omega has a portfolio of investments that includes 962 operating facilities located in 42 states and the UK (206 facilities) and operated by 81 different operators. As a source of capital to the healthcare industry, Omega continually evaluates the opportunities, trends and challenges affecting the industry.
Omega Healthcare Investors is listed on the NYSE, has a trailing 12-month revenue of around £1.1 billion and employs 60 staff.
Capital at risk
Aedifica is a Regulated Real Estate Company under Belgian law specialised in European healthcare real estate, particularly in elderly care. Aedifica has developed a portfolio of approx. 620 sites in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Finland, Sweden, Ireland and Spain, worth more than "5. 8 billion. Aedifica is listed on Euronext Brussels (2006) and Euronext Amsterdam (2019) and is identified by the following ticker symbols: AED; AED:BB (Bloomberg); AOO.
Aedifica is listed on the BR and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around $346.5 million.
Capital at risk
As of September 30, 2024, Sabra's investment portfolio included 373 real estate properties held for investment (consisting of (i) 233 skilled nursing/transitional care facilities, (ii) 39 senior housing communities ("senior housing - leased"), (iii) 68 senior housing communities operated by third-party property managers pursuant to property management agreements ("senior housing - managed"), (iv) 18 behavioral health facilities and (v) 15 specialty hospitals and other facilities), 14 investments in loans receivable (consisting of three mortgage loans and 11 other loans), five preferred equity investments and two investments in unconsolidated joint ventures. As of September 30, 2024, Sabra's real estate properties held for investment included 37,793 beds/units, spread across the United States and Canada.
Sabra Healthcare REIT is listed on the NASDAQ, has a trailing 12-month revenue of around €702.6 million and employs 50 staff.
Capital at risk
Target is a FTSE 250-listed real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and operates a portfolio of modern care homes across the UK. With 94 purpose-built properties leased to 33 tenants, it focuses on high-quality, accessible facilities, boasting an impressive 99% en-suite wet room coverage, which is a standout figure compared to the industry average of just 33%.
Target Healthcare REIT is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around $69.6 million.
Capital at risk
Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL) an S&P 500 company, is the world's preeminent residential wellness and healthcare infrastructure company. Our portfolio of 1,500+ Seniors and Wellness Housing communities is positioned at the intersection of housing, healthcare, and hospitality, creating vibrant communities for mature renters and older adults in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. We also seek to support physicians in our Outpatient Medical buildings with the critical infrastructure needed to deliver quality care.
Welltower is listed on the NYSE, has a trailing 12-month revenue of around £8 billion and employs 685 staff.
Capital at risk
Inheriting the family home is a dream for many, but 6,815 individuals in England are currently in Deferred Payment Agreements (DPAs), a scheme that lets people defer care home costs by using their property as collateral, totalling £343.3 million as of 31 March 2024.
With care home fees in the UK averaging £1,160 per week for residential care and £1,410 for nursing care, many estates are completely drained after death to settle the debt owed for end-of-life residency and care.
It’s a sobering reality, but it also highlights the relentless cash flow fuelling care homes and the vast wealth of the boomer generation, ready and waiting to be steadily absorbed by long-term care costs. Where residents can’t afford to pay, the deep pockets of the government step in to cover the bill. For care homes, cash flows are almost as inevitable as ageing itself.
By 2050, the global population of over 60s is expected to hit 2.1 billion, nearly double the 2015 figure, according to the WHO.
In the UK, the number of over-80s will rise by 32% in the next decade, adding 1.1 million more people who will likely need care. Yet, care home supply isn’t keeping pace, with 85.7% of beds are already occupied, according to statistics from the Department of Health & Social Care.
For investors, care home shares can offer steady cash flow from long-term leases and exposure to a sector that isn’t going anywhere.
The money flowing into care homes hasn’t gone unnoticed. In 2024 alone, £3.1 billion worth of UK care home companies changed hands, with American investors snapping up 56% of them, according to reporting by The Times.
Investing in care home stocks isn’t without its risks. While demand is set to soar, running care homes is no easy business. Operators face rising costs, staffing shortages, and intense regulatory scrutiny, all of which can eat into profits.
A single scandal can devastate a care home stock overnight, just look at Emeis SA (formerly Orpea), a French nursing home operator that was forced to rebrand after a major exposé uncovered widespread neglect and financial misconduct in its facilities.
REITs, on the other hand, are at the mercy of interest rates and don’t control pricing, meaning they rely on tenants paying rent rather than directly benefiting from rising care costs.
Expert comment George – Is it better to invest in UK care home shares or look to the US?
No market is particularly better than the other, my preference would probably be US care homes due to the fact that wealth levels can be higher in the US across the older generation and the baby boomers who are in or approaching retirement. Here in the UK, elderly people tend to have much smaller levels of household wealth (and sometimes nursing home care is paid for by using equity in their homes).
The US also tends to be quite cutthroat about not supporting those on lower incomes whereas the UK government seems more readily waiting to jump in and help the elderly if they don’t have enough money or assets to cover the cost of nursing home care in later life.
Care home stocks and shares can offer a unique blend of stable dividends and long-term demand, driven by an ageing population and increasing care costs. But they’re not without risks.
Rising operational expenses, regulatory pressures, and reputational pitfalls can hit profits, while REITs remain vulnerable to interest rate shifts. The nursing home sector is not going to disappear overnight, but that doesn’t mean it’s a guaranteed win for investors.
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