Home care in the UK usually costs between £26 and £38 per hour with most families paying somewhere around £30 to £32 an hour in 2026. The exact figure changes depending on where you live, what kind of support is needed and whether you go through a regulated agency or hire a carer privately.
That’s the short answer. If you want to understand why the price moves around so much and what you can actually do to keep it manageable, read on.
At Greenwood Homecare, we provide personal care, night care, respite care and 24/7 live in care across Peterborough, Grantham and Cambridge. We quote families every week so the numbers below come from what we actually see on the ground, not just what gets published online.
How Much Does Home Care Cost Per Hour UK Wide?
There isn’t one single price you can quote for the whole country but there is a fairly clear range. Most people going through a CQC registered agency pay between £26 and £38 per hour. A few things push that number up or down:
- Budget or independent rates (£15 to £20 per hour): this is usually a self-employed carer working directly with a family. There’s no agency backing this arrangement so you take on the responsibility of covering their holidays and sick days yourself.
- Standard agency rates (£26 to £38 per hour): this covers a CQC registered provider with trained, DBS checked carers, a managed rota and a backup plan if your usual carer can’t make it.
- Specialist rates (£40 per hour and up): this applies to nursing-led visits, advanced dementia support, palliative care or areas where the cost of living is higher, such as central London.
To make this a bit more concrete: five hours of care a week at £32 an hour works out to roughly £160 weekly or about £693 a month. A more typical arrangement, two one-hour visits a day, seven days a week, adds up to around 14 hours weekly and lands somewhere near £420 to £450 a week depending on local rates.
If someone needs help several times a day rather than just once or twice, it’s worth reading our guide on how much live in care costs, since round the clock support can end up cheaper than stacking hourly visits.
Why Home Care Costs in the UK Aren’t One Fixed Number
Anyone giving you a single flat figure for home care across the country is skipping some fairly important details. Here’s what actually moves the price.
1. Where You Live
Rates in London and the South East regularly climb above £38 an hour, mostly because wages and running costs are higher there. In the North of England, parts of the Midlands and rural areas, you’re more likely to see £26 to £30 an hour. Travel time between visits and how much competition there is locally both play into this too.
2. Type and Complexity of Care
A short daytime visit to help someone get dressed and have a cup of tea costs less than a visit involving medication management or support for a specific condition like dementia or stroke recovery. Our dementia and Alzheimer’s care and stroke care services need carers with particular training and that gets reflected in the price.
3. Visit Length and Frequency
Shorter visits, especially 15 or 30 minute calls, often work out to a slightly higher hourly rate. Part of every visit covers travel and handover notes regardless of how long the carer is actually with you so that time has to be paid for somehow. Book longer visits or a bigger weekly package and the average tends to come down.
4. Time of Day
Daytime visits are the most affordable option in most cases. Overnight care costs more, particularly waking night care where the carer needs to stay alert all night rather than sleep. Weekends and bank holidays often carry a small extra charge with most providers too.
5. Agency Versus Private Carer
Going through an agency tends to cost more per hour than hiring someone privately. That difference pays for things you don’t see day to day: CQC oversight, staff training, insurance, DBS checks and someone to step in if your usual carer is off sick. Hiring privately can look like the cheaper option on paper but you become the legal employer and that comes with tax, contracts and cover arrangements that catch a lot of families out.
The Homecare Association’s Minimum Price Benchmark
Each year, the Homecare Association which is the industry’s professional membership body, works out a minimum price for delivering home care properly. It factors in the National Living Wage, employer National Insurance, pension contributions, paid travel time and the basic cost of running a compliant care business.
For 2026/27, that figure sits at £34.42 an hour in England. It’s a useful number to know because it shows what care genuinely costs to deliver when everyone involved is paid fairly. A lot of councils still commission care below this rate which is part of why the sector talks so much about funding pressure and carer retention.
How Home Care Compares to Other Types of Care
It helps to see hourly visiting care next to the alternatives before deciding what actually fits your situation.
For a lot of families, home care still works out cheaper than a residential care home once needs are moderate rather than round the clock and couples in particular can often share a package of support. If someone’s just come out of hospital or had surgery, our reablement care covers short term, goal led support which is sometimes funded differently to ongoing care.
Who Pays for Home Care in the UK?
This is usually where families get stuck so here’s the straightforward version.
Self Funding
If your savings and assets come to more than £23,250 in England, not counting your main home in most cases, you’ll typically be expected to pay for care yourself. This is called the upper capital limit and it’s set out in the government’s social care charging guidance.
Council Funded or Partially Funded Care
If your capital is below £23,250, your local council will carry out a financial and needs assessment to see what, if anything, they’ll contribute. Below £14,250, your savings aren’t counted at all. Between the two thresholds, a small amount of tariff income gets added into the calculation. You can request a needs assessment regardless of your finances so it’s worth doing even if you expect to pay for everything yourself.
Attendance Allowance and Other Benefits
Attendance Allowance is a tax free benefit for people over State Pension age who need help with personal care because of a disability or long term condition. It isn’t means tested so your income and savings don’t come into it at all. You can check eligibility on the government’s Attendance Allowance page. A surprising number of people who qualify never actually claim it.
NHS Continuing Healthcare
Where someone has a primary health need, NHS Continuing Healthcare can cover the full cost of home care with no means test involved. The eligibility criteria are strict and each case is assessed individually through the NHS.
If you’re not sure where you stand, our guide on how to pay for care goes into more detail on the funding routes and our team is always happy to talk through your circumstances during a free home assessment.
How to Get an Accurate Home Care Cost for Your Situation
Averages are fine for planning ahead but the number that actually matters is the one that applies to you. Here’s how to get there.
- Book a free home assessment – A decent provider will come and see you rather than pricing things over the phone based on guesswork.
- Ask what’s included in the rate – Some providers build travel time and quality checks into the price. Others charge them separately and that changes the real cost quite a bit.
- Ask about minimum visit charges – Some agencies charge a minimum of 45 minutes or an hour even for a shorter visit.
- Compare properly, not just on price – A lower headline rate sometimes means less training for carers or no guaranteed cover if your usual carer is unwell.
- Check the provider is registered – Confirm it’s registered with the Care Quality Commission which is the official regulator for home care in England.
At Greenwood Homecare, every new client starts with a free home assessment, no obligation attached. We take the time to work out what’s actually needed, explain our rates clearly without hidden extras and match you with a carer who suits your routine.
FAQs
Is £30 an hour normal for home care in the UK?
Yes, it is. Most CQC registered agencies charge somewhere between £26 and £38 an hour so £30 sits right in the middle of what’s typical.
Why is home care so expensive compared to what carers actually get paid?
Only part of the hourly rate goes straight into the carer’s wage. The rest covers travel between visits, holiday and sick pay, National Insurance, pension contributions, training, DBS checks, insurance and everything else that goes into running a regulated care business.
Can I get home care for free in the UK?
Some people qualify for fully or partly council funded care once a financial assessment is done, particularly if savings are under £23,250 in England. NHS Continuing Healthcare can also cover care in full for people with significant health needs, regardless of what they have in savings.
Is hourly care or live in care cheaper?
Depends on how much support someone needs. For a couple of visits a day, hourly care usually costs less. Once someone needs help most of the day, live in care often ends up cheaper than a stack of hourly visits and it tends to offer more continuity too.
Does home care cost more in some parts of the UK than others?
It does. London and the South East tend to run noticeably higher than the North of England, parts of the Midlands and most rural areas, mainly because of local wages and cost of living.
Ready for a Clear, No Obligation Quote?
Every family’s situation is different and the only way to know your real cost is to talk it through with people who arrange care every day. Greenwood Homecare offers free home assessments across Peterborough, Grantham and Cambridge with honest pricing and no pressure. Get in touch with our team today or call your local office directly to talk about the right care and the right price for your family.