Care Home & Social Care Solicitors
Operating a care home involves a unique set of challenges - balancing the needs of vulnerable residents with regulatory compliance, staff management and financial sustainability.
As the healthcare landscape evolves, care homes face increasing pressure to navigate complex legal requirements while maintaining high standards of care. With the right legal support, care homes can confidently adapt and thrive.
Care homes are constantly evolving, with new technology, changing healthcare models and tighter regulations.
Keeping up with this can feel like a challenge, but you don’t have to face it alone. Whether you run a care home, nursing home, residential facility or domiciliary care service, we are here to help - ensuring you stay compliant, protect your reputation and feel confident about the future.
From buying or selling a care home to handling employment issues, safeguarding concerns or navigating CQC regulations, we offer clear, practical advice tailored to your unique needs. We also provide support with finance, commercial contracts, dispute resolution and data protection - helping you manage risks and make informed decisions. If unexpected challenges come up, such as a difficult inspection or a reputational issue, you can count on us for expert guidance and a steady hand.
For care homes operated by charities, our support covers all aspects of charity law and regulation, governance and guidance for charity trustees on their duties, liabilities and decision-making, including supporting on engagement with the Charity Commission.
Our expertise
With deep sector knowledge and years of hands-on experience, we understand the complexities you face and take the time to know your specific needs. Over the years, we’ve built strong partnerships with banks, accountants and specialist healthcare professionals, giving you access to a wider network of expertise. Whether you're making a big decision or tackling an unexpected challenge, we’re here to provide clear, tailored advice that helps you move forward with confidence.
Our team advises on the following areas:
Buying or selling a care home can be a complex process. We can provide a range of services and support around this including business sale and purchase agreements, due diligence, CQC registration process, staff transfers and limitation of liability.
We can provide you with advice regarding CQC registration, including advice as to whether particular services trigger a registration requirement and which entity needs to be registered where the provider is part of a complex group structures. We can support you to prepare for CQC inspections and assist you after an inspection to challenge CQC decisions and inaccurate inspection reports.
Our experienced team provides clear, strategic advice to help you navigate Coroners' inquests, ensuring that you are thoroughly prepared and effectively represented throughout the inquest process.
We advise on all aspects of social care, including Ofsted registered residential special schools and colleges and associated registered children's homes and care homes for children and young adults.
From commercial disputes and procurement challenges to litigation flowing from the purchase and sale of a care home business, we can support you in a wide range of dispute resolution matters. Where possible, we assist clients to pursue alternative dispute resolution (ADR) options (including negotiation, round table meetings and mediation). We have extensive experience of challenging healthcare procurement decisions.
Whether purchasing, leasing, refinancing or managing property portfolios we offer expert guidance on all your premises-related matters. This support can extend to premises development, premises sales and auctions. For leasehold premises, we can help you to manage your landlord and tenant relationship, from negotiating leases to documenting consents and pursuing any leasehold breaches and other disputes.
Our employment law specialists provide a full range of employment services, from drafting employment documentation (including contracts of employment and service agreements) to guidance on TUPE processes and defending Employment Tribunal claims. In addition to the lawyers within VWV, Narrow Quay HR, our HR consultancy team, provide a flexible and practical range of cost-effective HR solutions to assist with day-to-day HR challenges.
We can provide a full range of advice in relation to all aspects of reputation protection, critical incident management, regulatory compliance and professional discipline.
For those care homes operated by charities, our charity law and governance team offers comprehensive and expert support across all aspects of charity law and regulation (including engagement with the Charity Commission). We also advise on trustees' duties, liabilities and decision-making. We can also advise on the range of "not for profit" (or social enterprise) structures that can be used to operate healthcare businesses in addition to charities, including Community Interest Companies (or CICs), in order to support your decision as to the most appropriate vehicle for your business.
We assist care homes with all types of commercial contract drafting, including terms between the care home and its residents.
Whether you are a representing a corporate entity, trust, charity or require personal tax advice, our dedicated tax solicitors can help you with the evolving nature of tax. We understand the importance of providing you with relevant and tailored tax advice. By also working with your accountant and financial adviser, we aim to provide you with a seamless solution aligning with all your interests.
Ben Willis is great - very efficient, effective, nice to work with and very knowledgeable.
Our work highlights
Sale of a care home
We supported the trustees of a charity on the sale of its care home to a commercial purchaser, including advising on a change to the charity's legal structure to mitigate liability for the trustees, the negotiation of an overage on the care home site and the post-sale arrangements for the application of the purchase price.
Dispute resolution
We assisted a care home in the final stages of a sale where the buyer had started to advertise itself as the owner of the care home prior to the completion of the purchase. This had the potential to impact resident numbers and therefore the sale price.
Investigation support
We were able to secure positive outcomes for a care home that we supported in relation to a local authority investigation, a safeguarding incident and a PAMMs assessment.
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