Selected Quarterly Financial Data (Details) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended					3 Months Ended
	Nov. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 04, 2012 Senior housing item	Oct. 31, 2012 Senior housing item	Dec. 31, 2011 Sunrise Senior Living	Oct. 31, 2010 Sunrise Senior Living item	Sep. 02, 2011 Brookdale Senior Living, Inc. Property item	Dec. 31, 2012 Blackstone JV Senior housing item	Dec. 04, 2012 Blackstone JV Senior housing item	Oct. 31, 2012 Blackstone JV Senior housing item	Jan. 14, 2011 HCP Ventures II item	Oct. 31, 2010 HCP Ventures II item
Selected Quarterly Financial Data
Total revenues		$ 508,487,000	$ 475,157,000	$ 461,251,000	$ 455,827,000	$ 458,281,000	$ 440,914,000	$ 484,941,000	$ 327,960,000	$ 1,900,722,000	$ 1,712,096,000	$ 1,240,206,000
Income before income taxes and equity income from and impairments of investments in unconsolidated joint ventures		203,072,000	183,897,000	190,016,000	179,808,000	54,875,000	157,464,000	217,897,000	71,602,000	756,793,000	501,838,000	382,681,000
Total discontinued operations		31,031,000	1,153,000	(597,000)	2,371,000	2,920,000	962,000	1,653,000	1,621,000	33,958,000	7,156,000	29,049,000
Net income		246,260,000	199,043,000	204,975,000	196,564,000	70,787,000	175,471,000	234,252,000	73,984,000	846,842,000	554,494,000	344,395,000
Net income applicable to HCP, Inc.		241,028,000	196,108,000	202,024,000	193,380,000	67,844,000	172,195,000	228,759,000	70,093,000	832,540,000	538,891,000	330,709,000
Dividends paid per common share (in dollars per share)		$ 0.50	$ 0.50	$ 0.50	$ 0.50	$ 0.48	$ 0.48	$ 0.48	$ 0.48
Basic earnings per common share (in dollars per share)		$ 0.54	$ 0.46	$ 0.48	$ 0.43	$ 0.15	$ 0.41	$ 0.55	$ 0.17	$ 1.90	$ 1.29	$ 1.01
Diluted earnings per common share (in dollars per share)		$ 0.53	$ 0.45	$ 0.48	$ 0.43	$ 0.15	$ 0.41	$ 0.55	$ 0.17	$ 1.90	$ 1.29	$ 1.00
Equity method investment, impairment details
Investment ownership percentage acquired																					65.00%
Number of senior housing facilities																					25	25
Number of senior housing communities																	37
Number of senior living communities operated in a RIDEA structure																27	21
Loss contingency, additional litigation provision	$ 125,000,000														$ 125,000,000
Number of senior housing communities													2	127				129	2	127