Intangibles - Schedule of Intangibles Lease Assets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Intangible assets and liabilities
Gross intangible lease assets	$ 795,305	$ 911,697
Accumulated depreciation and amortization	(385,223)	(431,892)
Net intangible lease assets	410,082	479,805
Lease-up intangibles
Intangible assets and liabilities
Gross intangible lease assets	645,143	719,788
Tenant leases \| Above market
Intangible assets and liabilities
Gross intangible lease assets	105,663	147,409
Ground leases \| Below market
Intangible assets and liabilities
Gross intangible lease assets	$ 44,499	$ 44,500

These concepts are used to disclose identifiable intangible assets and liabilities associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	hcp_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAndLiabilitiesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	hcp_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Accumulated amount of amortization of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16323-109275

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAccumulatedAmortization
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount before amortization of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsGross
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount after amortization of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsNet
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	hcp_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAndLiabilitiesByMajorClassAxis=us-gaap_LeasesAcquiredInPlaceMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	hcp_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAndLiabilitiesByMajorClassAxis=hcp_TenantLeasesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=us-gaap_AboveMarketLeasesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	hcp_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAndLiabilitiesByMajorClassAxis=hcp_GroundLeasesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=hcp_BelowMarketLeasesForLesseeMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: