Live-in care in the UK is advertised anywhere between about £1,000 and £1,900 a week for one person. That is a £900 gap for what looks, on every website, like the same thing.
It isn’t the same thing. Most of the gap comes down to one question that almost no family thinks to ask. This page explains it, along with what the headline figure covers.
Helping at Home charges from £1,800 a week for one person and £2,250 for a couple. Care is exempt from VAT, so nothing is added.
What providers publish
Prices advertised in 2026, taken from providers’ own websites:
| Provider | Model | Published weekly price |
|---|---|---|
| PrimeCarers | Marketplace | £1,007 basic, £1,197 complex |
| IP Live In Care | Provider | from £1,071 |
| Novus Care | Provider | from £1,090 |
| Elder | Introductory agency | from £1,210 |
| Promedica24 | Provider | from £1,295 |
| Helping Hands | CQC-registered provider | from £1,675 |
| Helping at Home | CQC-registered, directly employed | from £1,800 |
| Unique Senior Care | Provider | from £1,855 |
Notice the shape of it. The cheapest names cluster around £1,000 to £1,300. The regulated providers who employ their own carers cluster above £1,675. That is not a coincidence, and it is not a measure of quality either. It is two different business models.
The question that explains the gap
Is the carer employed by the provider, or self-employed?
Introductory agencies match families with a carer who works for themselves. They charge a fee for making the introduction. Elder says exactly that on its own website: “introductory agencies, like Elder, connect families with self-employed professional carers.”
Its legal notice adds that “the Care Quality Commission (CQC) defines companies like Elder as an introductory agency pursuant to the Health and Social Care Act 2008.” Elder is not registered with the CQC as a provider of personal care.
Nothing about that is hidden or unlawful, and for some families it works well. But it changes what you are buying. With that model, the carer works for themselves. The working relationship is between them and the household, and the agency has little to do once the match is made.
A CQC-registered provider that employs its carers carries the cost of employment. That means wages, employer National Insurance, pension, holiday pay, training, supervision, DBS checks, insurance and cover when someone is ill. Those costs are real, and they are why the price starts higher.
Our employed or self-employed guide sets out the three questions worth putting to any provider before you compare prices.
What the headline figure does and does not include
Ask about all of these. The answers vary more than the prices do.
Usually included: the carer’s time and the care itself, care planning, and supervision by the provider.
Usually provided by the household, not charged: the carer’s own bedroom, and food, since the carer generally eats with the client. Some providers charge this separately at £50 to £100 a week, so check whether a lower headline price is being made up elsewhere.
Often extra, and worth asking about directly:
- Break cover. Every live-in carer needs a protected daily break. Where the client can be safely alone for it, nothing more is needed. Where they cannot, a second carer has to come in. At Helping at Home that is an additional charge, quoted at assessment alongside the weekly figure so you see the total before agreeing anything.
- Holiday and respite cover. Ask what happens when the regular carer takes leave, and whether the replacement costs the same.
- Waking nights. If someone needs frequent help through the night, a live-in carer alone is not a safe answer. A waking night carer alongside the live-in carer is a separate cost.
- Joining, call-out or travel fees. Some providers apply them. We do not.
Live-in care against a care home
| Option | Typical weekly cost |
|---|---|
| Live-in care, one person | From £1,800 |
| Live-in care, a couple | From £2,250 |
| Residential care home, UK average | £1,298 |
| Nursing home, UK average | £1,535 |
| Two care home places for a couple | Roughly double a single place |
Care home averages are UK-wide figures published by carehome.co.uk for 2026. Specialist dementia care usually costs more, and fees vary by region and by home.
For one person, live-in care and a good care home land close enough that the decision is rarely about money alone. For a couple the arithmetic separates sharply, because one carer supports both people for a single fee while a care home charges per person. Our live-in care for couples guide works through that, and live-in care vs a care home covers the wider comparison.
What pushes the price up
- Overnight needs. Settled nights are the assumption behind every live-in price. Frequent night waking changes the arrangement and the cost.
- Moving and handling. If two carers are needed to move someone safely, live-in care on its own does not fit.
- Clinical tasks. Catheter, stoma, PEG feeding and ventilation support sit outside the scope of general live-in care and need a differently trained team.
- Two people rather than one. A couples rate is higher than a single rate, though far below two separate placements.
- Break cover, as above, where someone cannot safely be left alone during the daily break.
Help towards the cost
Attendance Allowance is not means-tested and does not depend on savings. It pays £76.70 or £114.60 a week depending on how much help is needed, day and night. Plenty of people who qualify never claim it. Our Attendance Allowance page explains how.
Council funding starts with a needs assessment. A financial assessment follows, and what you pay depends on your income and savings.
NHS Continuing Healthcare covers the full cost of care where someone’s needs are primarily health-related. It is assessed by the integrated care board rather than the council.
Our funding live-in care guide walks through all four routes, and the costs and funding hub covers home care funding more broadly.
The short version
A live-in care price under about £1,300 a week almost always means a self-employed carer. They are introduced to you by an agency that is not the regulated provider of your care. A price above about £1,675 usually means an employed carer working for a CQC-registered provider. Both exist. Neither is a scandal. But comparing one against the other on price alone will lead you somewhere you did not intend to go.
Live-in care with Helping at Home starts at £1,800 a week, VAT exempt. Every carer is directly employed, and one Registered Manager is accountable for the care plan. Call 01636 646915 or request a care assessment.
