Written and reviewed by the Oath Healthcare care team · CQC-regulated provider · Last reviewed: 11 June 2026
How much does home care cost? It’s usually the second question families ask — right after “can mum stay at home?” — and it’s the one the industry answers worst. Half the websites say “contact us for a quote.” This guide does the opposite: real numbers first, then what moves them up or down, then every legitimate way to bring the bill down.
Short on time? In 2026, visiting home care typically costs from £25/hour, overnight care from £180/night, and full live-in care from £1,100/week. A common starter package — one hour every morning, seven days a week — runs around £175/week. Before you pay any of it yourself, check the funding routes in our paying for care at home guide: the house is never means-tested for home care, and NHS Continuing Healthcare can cover everything.
Home care costs in 2026: the headline rates
| Type of care | Typical 2026 price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Visiting care | from £25/hour | Carer visits for personal care, meals, medication, companionship |
| Dementia visiting care | from £28/hour | Visits from carers with specialist dementia training |
| Overnight care (sleeping night) | from £180/night | Carer sleeps in, available if needed |
| Overnight care (waking night) | from £260/night | Carer awake and on duty through the night |
| Live-in care | from £1,100/week | Full-time carer living in the home — see our live-in care cost guide |
| Complex live-in care | from £1,300/week | Nurse-led care for clinical conditions |
Those are our published rates; national averages sit in a similar band, with London and the South East typically at the higher end. If a provider won’t publish or quote rates until you’ve “booked a consultation,” treat that as a flag — pricing transparency is a sign of confidence.
What a real week of home care costs
Hourly rates only mean something once you multiply them by a real routine. Three typical packages:
| Package | Hours | Weekly cost | Monthly (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morning check-in — 1hr daily for washing, dressing, breakfast, tablets | 7 hrs/wk | ~£175 | ~£760 |
| Morning + evening — the most common package: up in the morning, settled at night | 14 hrs/wk | ~£350 | ~£1,520 |
| Substantial daily support — 3 visits/day incl. lunch and meds | 21 hrs/wk | ~£525 | ~£2,280 |
Once needs pass roughly 35–40 hours a week, live-in care from £1,100/week usually becomes better value than stacking visits — one consistent carer, full coverage, often less money.
What moves the price up or down
- Visit length — 30-minute visits exist but cost more per hour; 60 minutes is better care and better value.
- Time and day — evenings, weekends and bank holidays carry premiums with most providers.
- Specialist needs — dementia, complex or palliative care need trained carers and price accordingly.
- One carer or two — some moving-and-handling needs require a second carer per visit.
- Where you live — rates vary by region; rural rounds sometimes add travel considerations.
Home care vs care home: the cost comparison families actually need
Residential care homes typically run £1,200–£1,500+ per week in much of England, nursing homes more. Compare honestly:
- Twice-daily visiting care (~£350/wk) costs a quarter of a typical care home.
- Even full live-in care (from £1,100/wk) is comparable to or below most care homes — one-to-one, in your own home.
- And the means test is different in kind: for care at home, your house is never counted. For a care home it usually is — which is how families end up reading about deferred payment agreements and the deprivation of assets rules.
Five ways to pay less than the headline price
- Check NHS Continuing Healthcare first — if needs are primarily health needs, the NHS pays in full, no means test. Two minutes on the free eligibility checker.
- Get a care needs assessment — free, and the gateway to council funding.
- Claim Attendance Allowance — up to around £110/week, not means-tested, for anyone over State Pension age with care needs. It quietly covers one week of visiting care a month.
- Use direct payments if the council funds you — you choose the agency, not the council.
- Right-size the package — start with the assessment’s recommendation, review after four weeks. Good providers adjust down as readily as up.
Questions to ask any provider before you sign
- Is the quoted rate inclusive — or are weekends, bank holidays and travel extra?
- What’s the minimum visit length and the notice period?
- Are your carers employed and DBS-checked, with paid travel time?
- Will we have the same carers each week?
- What’s your CQC rating? (Ours: CQC Rated Good — verifiable on cqc.org.uk.)
What families actually end up paying: three real shapes
The morning-visit family. Dad needs help washing, dressing and taking tablets. One hour every morning: £175/week. He claims Attendance Allowance at the higher rate — around £110/week, not means-tested — so the real out-of-pocket cost is roughly £65/week. Most families in this position never claim the allowance.
The morning-and-evening family. Mum has early dementia; she needs settling at night as well. Fourteen hours a week at dementia rates: about £390/week. Her savings are £17,000 — under the £23,250 threshold, and her flat doesn’t count for care at home — so after the financial assessment the council funds a substantial share through a personal budget, taken as direct payments so the family kept the agency they’d already chosen.
The round-the-clock family. After a stroke, visits stopped being enough. Stacking four daily visits would have cost more than £700/week with gaps in between; live-in care at £1,100/week closed the gaps with one consistent carer — and came in £200–£400/week below the nursing homes the family had viewed, without selling the house to fund it.
Three different bills — but in each case the final number only made sense after the funding checks. Price lists tell you the ceiling; the assessment and the funding routes tell you what you pay.
Frequently asked questions
How much does home care cost per hour in the UK?
Typically from 25 pounds per hour in 2026, rising to around 28 pounds or more for specialist dementia or complex care, with regional variation and premiums for evenings and weekends.
How much is home care per month?
A daily one-hour visit costs roughly 760 pounds a month; morning and evening visits roughly 1,520 pounds a month; full live-in care from around 4,800 pounds a month.
Is home care cheaper than a care home?
For most needs, yes. Visiting care packages cost a fraction of the typical 1,200 to 1,500 pounds per week for residential care, and even live-in care is usually comparable or cheaper – with the added difference that your home is never counted in the means test for care at home.
Will the council pay for my home care?
If your counted savings are under 23,250 pounds (your home is not counted for care at home), the council will fund some or all of your care following a care needs assessment and a financial assessment.
When does live-in care become better value than visiting care?
Roughly when needs pass 35 to 40 hours of support a week. At that point live-in care from 1,100 pounds per week typically costs the same or less than stacked visits, with one consistent carer.
Why do some providers not publish prices?
There is no good reason. Reputable providers publish rates or quote them immediately on the phone. Treat “contact us to discuss pricing” as a flag.
Want an exact figure for your situation?
Ten minutes on the phone — needs, routine, postcode — gets you a real number, not a range. Free assessment, no obligation, and we’ll flag any funding you’re missing while we’re at it.
- 📞 Cambridge: 01223 755887
- 📞 Redbridge & East London: 020 3949 4333
- 📞 South Essex: 01268 206550
- 🌐 Or start with the free NHS Continuing Healthcare eligibility checker
We’re CQC Rated Good, family-run, and the prices above are ours, published. Care can usually start within 48 hours.