UK later-living market deal volumes hit a record £3.1bn in 2024, according to Cushman & Wakefield (C&W).

UK later living investments in 2024 – Credit: C&W

In its latest market report, C&W reveals that the figure was mainly driven by £2.3bn of deals in the second half of the year. The final quarter was the most active since tracking began in 2019, with £1.3bn of deals, according to the company.

More than half of 2024’s deal volumes were generated by US investment, rising from 10% of overall volumes in 2023 to more than 56% last year. This included US REIT Welltower’s acquisition of Care UK, which operates 163 care homes, from Bridgepoint.

The report also reveals a large number specialist investors from across the globe invested in the sector last year, with a large proportion of the US investment falling into this group, accounting for nearly £2.2bn of total volumes.

Tom Robinson, head of healthcare at C&W, said that while a good deal of activity was underpinned by trophy deals from US investors, C&W also saw “the same parties deploying capital in smaller tranches, showing the overall trend to be more than a one-hit wonder”.

He added: “Major transactions of scale are less common in a diversified space like the care market, and some suggest the absence of these may hamper overall activity in 2025, but the pipeline of potential deal flow still looks robust and interest remains high.

“The influx of US capital is somewhat based on opportunism and the inability of UK REITs and European investors to raise money. This has allowed US investors to increase market share. Specialist investors remain a strong part of the market, but the UK’s overall attractiveness means we can expect non-specialist capital to target the sector as well.”