Other Real Estate Property Investments (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013 Senior housing	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior housing	Mar. 31, 2013 Blackstone JV Senior housing item	Dec. 31, 2012 Blackstone JV Senior housing item	Mar. 31, 2013 Blackstone JV Senior housing item	Dec. 31, 2012 Blackstone JV Senior housing	Dec. 31, 2011 Blackstone JV Senior housing	Mar. 31, 2013 Blackstone JV Senior housing Emeritus Corporation item	Dec. 31, 2012 Blackstone JV Senior housing Emeritus Corporation Real Estate Secured item	Dec. 31, 2013 Blackstone JV Senior housing Minimum	Mar. 31, 2013 Blackstone JV Senior housing Minimum Emeritus Corporation	Mar. 31, 2013 Blackstone JV Senior housing Maximum Emeritus Corporation
Acquisition
Acquisition of facility			$ 18,000,000		$ 38,000,000	$ 1,700,000,000
Consideration, Cash Paid	186,478,000			3,860,000			1,740,000,000
Number of senior housing communities					4	129	133				9
Number of individual leases										5
Number of properties operated pursuant to a new triple-net master lease										128
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			34
Number of stages for acquisition to close							2
Liabilities assumed	60,597,000				13,000,000		13,000,000
Assets Acquired, Real Estate	221,682,000			3,541,000	1,570,000,000		1,570,000,000
Assets Acquired, Net Intangibles	68,127,000			319,000	174,000,000		174,000,000
Consideration, assumed intangible liabilities					4,000,000		4,000,000
Percentage of resident occupancy												80.00%
Number of triple net master leases										2
Rental and related revenues		1,056,273,000								105,800,000
Rate of increase in minimum lease revenue per year on average over the initial 5 years of the lease (as a percent)										3.70%
Initial lease term with Emeritus Corporation										5 years
Rate of increase in minimum lease revenue per year for remaining years of lease term (as a percent)										3.00%
Percentage of operating leases basis spread on variable floor rate										103.00%
Percentage of operating leases basis spread on variable cap rate										130.00%
Net revenue						22,000,000
Net income (loss)						14,000,000
Number of asset pools										3
Initial available term of asset pools													14 years	16 years
Number of extension options with Emeritus Corporation										2
Total initial available term of asset pools													30 years	35 years
Principal amount of secured debt		139,679,000									52,000,000
Term of loan											4 years
Interest rate on debt, initially (as a percent)											6.10%
Interest rate on debt after four year term (as a percent)											6.80%
Unaudited pro forma consolidated results of operations
Revenues								1,966,303,000	1,798,018,000
Net income								870,802,000	584,361,000
Net income applicable to HCP, Inc.								$ 856,500,000	$ 568,758,000
Basic earnings per common share (in dollars per share)								$ 1.88	$ 1.30
Diluted earnings per common share (in dollars per share)								$ 1.88	$ 1.29