Other Real Estate Property Investments (Details)	12 Months Ended					3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Senior housing USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Senior housing USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 UK portfolio Senior housing USD ($) item	Dec. 31, 2014 UK portfolio Senior housing GBP (£)	Mar. 31, 2013 Blackstone JV Senior housing USD ($) item	Dec. 31, 2012 Blackstone JV Senior housing USD ($) item	Mar. 31, 2013 Blackstone JV Senior housing USD ($) item	Dec. 31, 2012 Blackstone JV Senior housing USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Blackstone JV Senior housing Emeritus Corporation item	Dec. 31, 2014 Blackstone JV Senior housing Minimum
Acquisition
Acquisition of facility			$ 18,000,000	$ 147,000,000	£ 88,000,000	$ 38,000,000	$ 1,700,000,000
Consideration, Cash Paid	503,470,000	233,797,000						1,740,000,000
Number of senior housing communities				23	23	4	129	133
Number of properties operated pursuant to a new triple-net master lease										133
Number of states where acquired senior housing communities are located						29		29
Percentage of assisted living units								61.00%
Percentage of independent living units								25.00%
Percentage of memory care units								13.00%
Percentage of skilled nursing								1.00%
Number of communities that are stabilized						99		99
Number of communities currently lease-up						34		34
Number of stages for acquisition to close								2
Liabilities assumed	37,278,000	3,351,000				13,000,000		13,000,000
Assets Acquired, Real Estate	483,046,000	215,255,000				1,570,000,000		1,570,000,000
Assets Acquired, Net Intangibles	64,023,000	28,214,000				174,000,000		174,000,000
Consideration, assumed intangible liabilities						4,000,000		4,000,000
Percentage of resident occupancy											80.00%
Rental and related revenues	1,322,055,000
Net revenue							22,000,000
Net income (loss)							14,000,000
Principal amount of secured debt	129,932,000
Unaudited pro forma consolidated results of operations
Revenues									1,966,303,000
Net income									870,802,000
Net income applicable to HCP, Inc.									$ 856,500,000
Basic earnings per common share (in dollars per share)									$ 1.88
Diluted earnings per common share (in dollars per share)									$ 1.88