Care Homes

For family carers who are beginning to wonder whether a care home might be the right next step — and who need honest, up-to-date information to help them think it through. This guide won’t make the decision for you, but it will make sure you have what you need to make it well.

The decision to consider a care home is one of the hardest a family carer will ever face.

It arrives not as a single moment but as a slow accumulation — of nights that didn’t rest, of risks that grew harder to manage, of the quiet realisation that what your loved one now needs is more than one person can safely provide at home. And alongside that realisation comes guilt, grief, doubt, and the fear of what other people will think.

What I want to say before anything else is this: considering a care home is not giving up. In many situations it is the most loving, thoughtful, and responsible decision a carer can make. The families who arrive at this decision having done their research, asked the right questions, and chosen carefully are the ones whose loved ones tend to settle most successfully.

This guide gives you the information to do exactly that.

1. When to consider a care home

There is no single sign that it’s time. It is usually a combination of factors — a growing sense that the level of care needed has shifted beyond what can be safely provided at home, however much love and commitment is there.

Common factors that lead families to consider a care home:

• Care needs have increased significantly — particularly around personal care, mobility, or medical needs
• Safety is becoming a serious concern — frequent falls, wandering, or incidents that can’t be reliably prevented
• The carer is exhausted to the point where their own health is at risk
• Night-time care is so disrupted that neither person is getting adequate rest
• Your loved one needs specialist care — nursing care, or a specialist unit — that cannot be replicated at home
• Your loved one would benefit from the social environment, structure, and activity a good care home provides

If you are unsure whether the time is right, speak to the GP, a social worker, or an Admiral Nurse. An honest conversation with a professional who knows your situation is worth more than any checklist.

→ Download the When to Consider Care Homes guide — free at CarersInfo

2. Types of care facility

Not all care homes are the same. Understanding the difference helps you look in the right place from the start.

Residential care homes provide accommodation and personal care — help with washing, dressing, meals, and daily life. They do not have nurses on site. Best suited to people who need support with daily living but do not have complex medical needs.

Nursing homes provide the same as residential care plus 24-hour nursing care from registered nurses on site. For people with more complex health needs who require medical care alongside personal care.

Specialist units cater for specific conditions or needs — dementia units with adapted environments, for example, or units specialising in conditions such as Parkinson’s, acquired brain injury, or learning disabilities. If your loved one has a specific condition, look for a home with demonstrable experience and specialist staff in that area.

→ Download the Types of Care Facilities guide — free at CarersInfo

3. How to choose a care home

Do not choose a care home from a brochure or a website alone. Visit in person. Visit at least three homes before making any decision, and if possible, visit your preferred choice more than once — including at a different time of day.

Before you visit: check the home’s CQC (Care Quality Commission) rating at cqc.org.uk. Ratings run from Outstanding to Inadequate. Read the most recent inspection report, not just the rating — the detail matters. Avoid any home currently rated Inadequate without a clear, evidenced improvement plan.

When you visit, look for:

• Staff who interact warmly with residents — not just efficiently
• Residents who appear engaged, comfortable, and clean
• A clean environment that doesn’t smell strongly of cleaning products or other odours
• Meaningful activity happening — not just a television in the corner
• Staff who seem to know residents as individuals, not just as needs to be met
• A manager who is present, engaged, and willing to answer your questions honestly

Questions to ask: What is the staff-to-resident ratio? What happens when a resident’s needs increase? How are families involved in care planning? What is included in the weekly fee and what is charged extra?

→ Download the Visiting and Evaluating Care Homes guide — free at CarersInfo

4. What care homes cost in 2026

Care home fees in England in 2026 range from approximately £1,000 to over £1,800 per week depending on location, type of care, and the home itself. As a general guide:

• Residential care: approximately £1,000–£1,400 per week
• Nursing care: approximately £1,200–£1,800 per week
• Specialist care (e.g. dementia nursing): typically £1,375–£1,600 per week
• London and the South East are significantly more expensive than other regions

These figures are averages — individual homes vary. Always ask for a full, itemised breakdown of what is included in the weekly fee before committing to anything. Additional charges for hairdressing, newspapers, outings, or laundry can add up significantly over time. Get the full picture in writing.

Self-funders — those paying their own care costs — typically pay £200–£400 more per week than council-funded residents for equivalent care. This gap exists because councils negotiate lower rates. It is worth being aware of this when budgeting.

→ Download the Funding Care Home Costs guide — free at CarersInfo

5. The means test — who pays what in England (2026/27)

Whether your local authority contributes to care home costs depends on the value of your loved one’s assets — savings, investments, and usually property. This is assessed through a financial means test.

The capital limits for 2026/27 in England are:

• Above £23,250 — your loved one funds their own care in full (self-funder)
• Between £14,250 and £23,250 — your loved one contributes most of their income plus £1 per week for every £250 of assets between the two thresholds
• Below £14,250 — assets are not counted toward care costs, though income contributions still apply

These thresholds have been frozen since 2010 and remain unchanged for 2026/27. An earlier government plan to raise the upper limit to £100,000 and introduce an £86,000 lifetime cap on care costs has been scrapped by the current Labour government. The thresholds are not expected to change in the near future.

The means test looks at your loved one’s assets only — not yours as a carer, and not your partner’s if you have one. The value of the family home is generally excluded from the assessment if a spouse, partner, or certain other relatives continue to live there.

If your loved one’s assets are likely to fall to the upper threshold during their time in care, ask the local authority for a review at that point — you don’t have to wait for them to initiate it.

Thresholds differ in Scotland (upper £35,000, lower £21,500) and Wales (single limit £50,000). Contact Age Scotland or Age Cymru for country-specific guidance.

→ Download the Local Authority Funding guide — free at CarersInfo

6. NHS-funded nursing care and NHS Continuing Healthcare

Two NHS funding routes are worth understanding — and both are frequently missed by families.

NHS-Funded Nursing Care (FNC) is a contribution the NHS makes toward the nursing element of care home fees for people in nursing homes who have been assessed as needing registered nursing care. It is not means-tested. The FNC rate for 2026/27 should be confirmed with your local NHS Integrated Care Board — ask the care home or your GP.

NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) is full funding of care costs by the NHS for people whose primary care need is health-related rather than social care. If your loved one qualifies, the NHS funds everything — regardless of their assets. There is no means test.

CHC is one of the least-known and most significant entitlements in the care system. Many families who would qualify are never assessed. If your loved one has complex, unpredictable, or intensive health needs, ask explicitly for a CHC assessment. You can request one yourself — you don’t have to wait for a professional to suggest it.

→ Download the NHS-Funded Nursing Care guide — free at CarersInfo

7. Making the transition — moving in

Moving a loved one into a care home is an emotionally significant event — for them and for you. How it is handled in the first weeks matters enormously to how well they settle.

Things that help the transition:

• Bring familiar objects — photographs, a favourite blanket, personal items that make the room feel like theirs
• Visit frequently in the first weeks — not to check up, but to help them feel connected and not abandoned
• Let the care home establish routines before introducing major changes — familiarity builds security
• Talk to staff about your loved one as a person — their history, preferences, personality, what they love and what they find difficult
• Expect an adjustment period — most residents take four to six weeks to settle. This is normal.
• Look after yourself during this period — the guilt and grief are real and they need attention too

→ Download the Making the Transition guide — free at CarersInfo

8. Staying involved after the move

Moving your loved one into a care home does not end your role as a carer — it changes it. The relationship continues. The involvement continues. What changes is the nature of the tasks.

Your role as a family member becomes one of advocacy, connection, and presence. Visit regularly. Get to know the staff by name. Attend care planning meetings. Speak up if something concerns you. And spend your visits doing things you both enjoy rather than checking on the care — read together, listen to music, look through photographs, simply sit together.

Many families report that once the weight of physical care has been lifted, the relationship with their loved one actually improves. There is space again for connection rather than just coordination.

→ Download the Continuing Involvement guide — free at CarersInfo

9. Your rights and how to raise concerns

Care home residents have legal rights — and family members have the right to advocate for them. If something concerns you, raise it. If it isn’t addressed, escalate it.

The process for raising concerns:

• Start with the care home manager — most issues can be resolved at this level with a direct conversation
• If unresolved, contact the care home provider’s complaints department
• If still unresolved, contact the CQC — they cannot investigate individual complaints but can note patterns and factor concerns into inspections
• For serious safeguarding concerns, contact your local authority’s Adult Safeguarding team directly
• The Local Government Ombudsman can investigate complaints about local authority-funded care

An independent advocate — available through your local authority — can support your loved one in making their views known, particularly if they find it difficult to communicate or lack confidence in speaking up.

→ Download the Rights and Advocacy guide — free at CarersInfo

10. CQC ratings — what they mean

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspects and regulates care homes in England. Every registered care home has a rating — Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement, or Inadequate — based on regular inspections.

Check any home you are considering at cqc.org.uk before visiting. Read the inspection report as well as the overall rating — the narrative often reveals more than the headline score.

A Good rating from a recent inspection is a reasonable baseline. An Outstanding rating is genuinely rare and worth noting. Requires Improvement is worth exploring further — it doesn’t automatically rule a home out, but understand what the issues were and what has changed since.

CQC ratings apply to England only. In Wales, Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) carries out inspections. In Scotland, the Care Inspectorate. In Northern Ireland, the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA).

→ Download the Quality Ratings and Inspections guide — free at CarersInfo

This decision comes from love

The guilt that accompanies a care home decision is almost universal among family carers. I want to say plainly: feeling guilty does not mean you are doing something wrong. It means you love someone and you are trying to do right by them in an impossible situation.

A good care home, chosen carefully and visited regularly, can give your loved one safety, skilled care, social connection, and a quality of life that one exhausted family carer — however devoted — often cannot provide alone.

This decision can be an act of love. Often, it is.

All ten Care Homes guides are available free at CarersInfo — practical, plain-English support to help you navigate one of the hardest decisions a family carer faces.

→ Access your free guides here

© CarersInfo 2024-2026. This post provides general information and is not a substitute for professional legal or financial advice. All figures are correct for the financial year April 2026 to March 2027 and apply to England unless otherwise stated. Always verify current figures with the relevant authority before making financial decisions.