Selling a house because of a nursing home: do I have to – and what about supplementary benefits?
Moving into a nursing home often comes sooner than planned – after a fall, a hospital stay, a diagnosis. And with it the question that worries relatives most: does the house have to be sold now? The short answer: no, nobody forces you to. The longer answer depends on pension, assets, mortgage, spouse and the rules on supplementary benefits. This guide sorts out the numbers, shows the three ways – sell, let, keep – and explains why gifting the house to the children shortly before moving into a home usually achieves nothing.
In brief
- There is no obligation to sell the house when moving into a nursing home – neither from the home nor from the municipality
- A nursing home place in Switzerland costs on average around CHF 10,900 per month; after health insurance and canton, the resident pays around CHF 6,000 themselves (2024 average)
- If pension and assets are not enough, supplementary benefits (EL) step in – from assets below CHF 100,000 (single persons) or CHF 200,000 (couples); the owner-occupied house does not count towards this threshold
- If the spouse continues to live in the house, an allowance of CHF 300,000 applies to the property for supplementary benefits
- Baselland stays at an annual asset consumption rate of 10 % – the increase to 20 % was rejected at the ballot box in November 2025
- Gifted assets are still counted for supplementary benefits, and heirs must repay benefits where the estate exceeds CHF 40,000
Do I have to sell the house if I move into a nursing home?
No. Neither the nursing home, nor the municipality, nor the compensation office can force you to sell. The house belongs to you, and you decide what happens to it. What changes when you move into a home is not the ownership but the bill: the home fees have to be paid every month – from state pension, occupational pension, savings, the helplessness allowance and, if that is not enough, from supplementary benefits.
Whether the house has to be sold is therefore not a legal but a financial question. And it has several answers: sell, let, increase the mortgage, or keep the house and draw supplementary benefits. Which is right depends on your situation – above all on whether someone continues to live in the house.
What a nursing home place costs – and who pays
The nursing home bill consists of three parts, financed in different ways:
- Care costs: the health insurer pays a fixed contribution per care level. The resident bears a limited own share (nationwide a maximum of around CHF 23 per day); the remainder is covered by canton and municipality as residual financing.
- Support costs: help with daily life that is not nursing care – you pay for this yourself.
- Board and lodging: room, meals, cleaning – you pay for this yourself.
Across Switzerland a home place costs on average around CHF 10,900 per month; after deducting health insurance and residual financing, around CHF 6,000 per month remains with the resident – that is over CHF 70,000 a year. With an average stay of a good two years, CHF 150,000 quickly adds up. Those who receive a helplessness allowance from the AHV cover part of it; the rest comes from pension and assets.
This is exactly where the house becomes an issue: for most owners in the Baselbiet it is the largest asset – and at the same time the one that cannot be paid out monthly.
Supplementary benefits and your own house: the rules
If income and assets are not enough for the home fees, you are entitled to supplementary benefits (EL) to the AHV. Supplementary benefits are not social assistance but a legal entitlement. For owners, three rules are decisive:
- Asset threshold: supplementary benefits are only paid if net assets are below CHF 100,000 (single persons) or CHF 200,000 (couples). The owner-occupied house does not count towards this threshold – an empty or let house, however, does, at market value.
- Allowances: in the benefit calculation, CHF 30,000 (single persons) or CHF 50,000 (couples) remain exempt. On an owner-occupied property an additional allowance of CHF 112,500 applies – and of CHF 300,000 if one spouse lives in the home and the other continues to live in the house (likewise if a helplessness allowance is received).
- Asset consumption: of the assets above the allowances, a portion is counted as income each year. In the canton of Basel-Landschaft this is 10 % per year for AHV pensioners in a home. The increase to 20 %, as many cantons apply, was rejected by Baselbiet voters on 30 November 2025 – for the third time.
What this means in practice: if your spouse continues to live in the house, the property is protected up to CHF 300,000 for supplementary benefits, and nobody expects a sale. If the house stands empty after the move into the home, it counts fully as an asset – then you are above the threshold and receive no supplementary benefits until the house is sold, let or otherwise realised. The mortgage is deducted from the value.
Three ways: sell, let, keep
There is no single right solution. The three ways compared:
- Sell: brings capital that covers the home fees for years and ends maintenance, mortgage interest and vacancy. Disadvantages: the sale takes three to five months, the house has to be cleared, and property gains tax and the seller’s half of the property transfer tax are due (the exemption for replacement purchases does not apply, as no new home is bought). After a long holding period, property gains tax is often moderate thanks to the holding period deduction.
- Let: the house stays in the family, the rental income covers part of the home fees, the imputed rental value ceases. Disadvantages: for supplementary benefits the let house counts fully as an asset; management needs someone to take care of it; older houses often need investment before letting. More in our guide Sell or let.
- Keep and borrow: if the spouse continues to live in the house, keeping it is usually right. If liquidity is lacking, the mortgage can be increased, provided the bank accepts the affordability – often the hurdle in old age. The house is then sold or inherited later.
Our experience: relatives decide too early and under pressure. First calculate how long pension, helplessness allowance and liquid assets will last – often one to two years, in which the sale can be prepared without time pressure.
Why gifting to the children usually achieves nothing
The idea is obvious: transfer the house to the children in good time so that it is not “used up by the home”. However, the law has largely closed this route.
- Renunciation of assets: gifted assets are counted for supplementary benefits as if they were still there – less CHF 10,000 per year since the gift. Anyone who transferred a house worth CHF 700,000 five years ago still has CHF 650,000 counted by the benefits office today. A sale to the children well below market value also counts as renunciation.
- Excessive consumption: anyone with assets over CHF 100,000 who spends more than 10 % per year also has the excess counted as renunciation.
- Repayment by the heirs: supplementary benefits received in the last ten years must be repaid from the estate insofar as it exceeds CHF 40,000. So the house the children inherit is not “saved” – the benefits office takes its share back.
A gift or advance on inheritance can make sense for other reasons – succession, family peace, taxes. As protection against home fees it only works if it took place many years before the move into the home. Incidentally, in the canton of Basel-Landschaft a transfer to descendants does not trigger property transfer tax, and inheritance and gift tax do not apply to spouses and descendants.
Taxes and formalities when selling from the home
- Property gains tax: the canton taxes the gain between investment costs and sale price, graduated up to 25 %. After a long holding period, the holding period deduction reduces the tax noticeably – a house that has been in the family for 35 years is taxed far more gently than one bought six years ago. Value-adding investments count as investment costs: searching for receipts from past decades is worthwhile.
- Property transfer tax: 1.25 % of the purchase price on the seller’s side; the exemption for owner-occupied property requires a replacement purchase within two years, which does not apply when moving into a home.
- Capacity of judgement: if the owner can no longer decide on the sale themselves, an advance care directive (validated by the KESB adult protection authority) or a deputyship is required – and for the sale of a property, the KESB’s approval. That takes months. An advance care directive, set up while still healthy, saves the family a great deal.
- Mortgage: it is redeemed from the proceeds at notarisation; with fixed-rate mortgages an early repayment penalty may apply – talk to the bank in good time (guide to the mortgage when selling).
- Clearing out: clearing a house lived in for decades takes time. Allow time for decluttering, keepsakes and handing things over to the children before the photos for the listing are taken.
How to proceed
- 1. Calculate liquidity: state pension, occupational pension, helplessness allowance, bank balances – how many months of home fees are covered without the house?
- 2. Check entitlement to supplementary benefits: register with the SVA Basel-Landschaft as soon as it is foreseeable that assets will fall below the threshold; benefits are not paid retroactively.
- 3. Have the house valued: free and on site – so the family calculates with a real figure instead of assumptions. Our property valuation is also the basis for the decision “let or sell”.
- 4. Calculate the taxes: property gains and property transfer tax, and the effect of rental income on supplementary benefits and income tax – our property fiduciary Roman Frey prepares the calculation for both options.
- 5. Arrange powers of attorney: advance care directive or power of attorney from the owner while that is still possible; with several children, appoint one person to lead the sale.
- 6. Only then advertise: with complete documents and a realistic price, a house in the Baselbiet sells in three to five months – without a distress sale.
Questions on this topic.
Do I have to sell my house if I move into a nursing home?
No. There is no obligation. The house only becomes an issue if pension and savings do not cover the home fees. Then selling, letting or a higher mortgage are the options – and supplementary benefits as soon as assets fall below the threshold.
Does the municipality pay if the money for the home runs out?
If income and assets are not enough, supplementary benefits to the AHV pay the difference up to a cantonal maximum for the home fee. Social assistance from the municipality only becomes an issue if even supplementary benefits are insufficient – which is rare in Baselland.
What happens to the house if my spouse continues to live in it?
Then the house remains protected for supplementary benefits up to an allowance of CHF 300,000 and does not count towards the asset threshold. A sale is generally not necessary in this situation.
Can I transfer the house to my children before I move into the home?
Yes, but it does not protect against home fees: gifted assets are counted for supplementary benefits as if they were still there, less CHF 10,000 per year since the gift. In addition, heirs must repay benefits received from the estate insofar as it exceeds CHF 40,000.
How quickly does the house have to be sold after moving into the home?
Usually not quickly at all. First work out how long pension, helplessness allowance and bank balances will last. An orderly sale takes three to five months; a distress sale generally costs several per cent of the value.
What if my mother can no longer decide on the sale herself?
Then a validated advance care directive or a deputyship is required, and the sale of the property must be approved by the KESB. That takes time. An advance care directive set up early avoids this detour.
Calculate first, then decide?
We value the house free of charge on site and work out with you what selling or letting brings net – without time pressure and without any obligation to sell.
Let’s talk about your property.
Call or write to us – reply within 24 hours.
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