Information

Evicted from a care home: What to do if a person with dementia is asked to leave

‘My mum has dementia and pays for her own care, but her care home has asked her to find somewhere new to live. What rights does she have?’ 

Apart from being upsetting and stressful, it can be tricky to know how to respond if a care home wants to evict someone. Much will depend on the home’s reasons for asking your mum to leave. 

Reasons 

There are situations where a care home can ask a resident to leave. 

The home should do whatever it reasonably can to meet a resident’s care needs. However, if it can’t provide the right care, then the person might be asked to move somewhere that can. 

The same is true if the person is violent and there’s a real risk of serious harm to staff, other residents or themselves if they remain. 

Someone could also be evicted if they have repeatedly failed to pay their fees and now owe a significant amount of money. 

Rights 

Even if the care home has reason to ask your mum to leave, she still has rights that must be respected. 

She should be given the reasons why she’s being evicted, and the opportunity to appeal the decision. 

She should also have a notice period of 28 days, or longer if this is stated in the care home contract. 

Even if the care home has reason to ask your mum to leave, she still has rights that must be respected. 

Responding 

Look through your mum’s contract with the care home – clauses about ‘termination of contract’ should say how the arrangement can end and what the notice period should be. The contract may also give her additional rights, such as stating that there should be a meeting with management or a mediation process. 

If the care home hasn’t given its reasons for asking your mum to leave, then ask for these. If you disagree with the reasons, ask to discuss them and explain why you disagree. If this doesn’t resolve the situation and you still don’t agree, then the care home should be able to tell you how to appeal its decision. 

If you’re not satisfied with its response, you could ask the relevant ombudsman to look into your complaint independently.

If the care home doesn’t have an appeals process, then you can raise a complaint to it about this. If you’re not satisfied with its response, you could ask the relevant ombudsman to look into your complaint independently. There are separate ombudsmen for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. 

You could also speak to local social services for further advice, and for help in finding a new care home.

Other sources of information and advice are the Relatives and Residents Association, Shelter England, Shelter Cymru and Housing Rights in Northern Ireland.