88.7%
Sector occupancy (Knight Frank)
Greater London
Care Home Finance in Merton
Commercial mortgages, development, bridging, refinance and going-concern operator finance for care homes in Merton. This is finance for the home as a business, not help with care fees.
Written and reviewed by Matt Lenzie Founder & Principal Broker · 25 years arranging care home finance · Reviewed June 2026
£1,450/wk
London avg weekly fee
12.9%
Fee growth, year on year
4.5%
Prime yield (Knight Frank)
We arrange care home finance in Merton for single-home buyers, established operators, investors and developers. Whether you are acquiring a trading home, funding a ground-up or conversion scheme, or refinancing onto better terms, we read the operator and the numbers, then take the case to the lenders most likely to fund it across Greater London.
Care home lending is underwritten on the operator covenant, the CQC rating, occupancy and the fee mix, not on bricks alone. In the London, the average weekly fee runs at about £1,450/wk (Knight Frank, 2025), and occupancy across mature homes nationally sat at 88.7% (Knight Frank, FY2024/25). Those regional and national figures frame the trading case a Merton home needs to support its borrowing.
Funding a Merton care home across its lifecycle
We arrange the full range of care home finance for Merton operators and buyers. A commercial mortgage funds the purchase of a trading home, typically to 70 to 75 percent of value over a 15 to 25 year term, with the loan sized on the home's stabilised trading profit. Development finance funds a ground-up build, extension or conversion, usually to 60 to 70 percent of cost. Bridging moves at auction or pre-CQC pace. Refinance lowers a rate, raises capital or exits a bridge. Going-concern operator finance is sized on EBITDARM and the going-concern value rather than the property alone, and sale-and-leaseback releases capital from a freehold while the operator keeps running the home. We match each case to the lenders that back this kind of home across Greater London.
The care settings we fund in Merton
Each care setting is registered, run and underwritten differently, and we arrange finance for all of them in Merton and across Greater London. That covers elderly residential and nursing homes, dementia and memory care, specialist and high-acuity care, supported living, learning disability and mental health settings, children's homes, and retirement and extra-care schemes. A nursing home turns on clinical staffing and acuity. A children's home turns on Ofsted standing and local-authority commissioning. Knowing which lender backs which setting here, and at what leverage, is the work we do before a case ever reaches a credit committee.
Finance we arrange for Merton homes
What the London care market means for funding in Merton
High fees and one of the strongest fee uplifts, against the highest property costs per bed and historically lower occupancy. A high-value but high-cost market; well-located stock commands premium fees. Average weekly fees in the London run at about £1,450/wk, up 12.9% year on year (Knight Frank, 2025). Lenders read these regional fee and occupancy trends, alongside the home's own trading record, when they size a facility for a Merton home.
- High fees and strong fee growth
- Highest property costs per bed in the UK
- Land scarcity constrains new supply
The local property market in Merton
Local house prices are a useful proxy for the strength of the self-funder catchment a care home draws on. Merton recorded around 1,589 residential sales over the past year at a median of £525,000, which makes the local market steady. A deeper, higher-value residential market tends to support a larger private and self-funded fee base, one input among the operator covenant, CQC rating and occupancy that drive a lending decision.
This residential data is local catchment context. It is not a care home valuation, which turns on the home's trading profit and going-concern value, assessed by a specialist healthcare valuer.
Residential sold price by type (Merton)
| Detached | £2,410,000 |
| Semi-detached | £750,000 |
| Terraced | £650,000 |
| Flat / apartment | £381,000 |
Source: HM Land Registry residential price-paid data, last 12 months. Local catchment context, not a care home valuation.
Recent price trend
| Quarter | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-Q2 | £518k | 641 |
| 2024-Q3 | £550k | 770 |
| 2024-Q4 | £510k | 774 |
| 2025-Q1 | £529k | 970 |
| 2025-Q2 | £510k | 468 |
| 2025-Q3 | £570k | 597 |
| 2025-Q4 | £510k | 439 |
| 2026-Q1 | £510k | 275 |
FAQ
Care home finance in Merton: common questions
How much can I borrow to buy a care home in Merton?
Most lenders fund up to 70 to 75 percent of value on a trading care home, with the loan sized on the home's stabilised trading profit (EBITDARM) rather than the bricks alone. Leverage reflects the operator covenant, the CQC rating, occupancy and the fee mix. We hold more than one hundred lender relationships and shortlist the desks most likely to back a Merton home.
Which lenders provide care home finance in Merton?
We work across high-street and challenger banks, specialist healthcare lenders and debt funds, including names such as Shawbrook, OakNorth, Allica Bank and Assetz Capital. The right lender for a Merton home depends on the setting, the operator's track record and the leverage you need, and we match the case to the desks that actively back it across Greater London.
What are care home fees and occupancy like around Merton?
Care figures are reported regionally rather than town by town. In the London, the average weekly fee runs at about £1,450/wk and has risen 12.9% year on year (Knight Frank, 2025), while occupancy across mature homes nationally held at 88.7% (Knight Frank, FY2024/25). We read these regional and national figures alongside the individual home's trading record.
Do you only arrange finance in Merton?
No. We arrange care home finance across the whole of Greater London and the wider UK, with the same approach: read the home and the operator, match the case to the lenders that back the setting, and negotiate terms on the borrower's behalf.
Funding a care home in Merton?
Send us the home and the operator and we will come back with a view on fundability and likely terms within one working day.