How much does home care cost per hour in the UK in 2026?

Typically around £26 to £38 an hour, with an average of around £32. The Homecare Association's recommended sustainable rate for 2026/27 is £34.42 an hour, which is a useful benchmark. London and the South East are generally more expensive; the North of England and Wales tend to be lower.

How much does live-in care cost?

Live-in care typically costs around £220 a day, which works out at roughly £1,500 a week. Overnight care is around £210 a night for a sleeping carer and up to around £260 for a waking carer. Prices vary by provider and area, so get local quotes.

Who pays for home care?

It depends on the council's means test. In England for 2026/27, capital above £23,250 means self-funding; between £14,250 and £23,250 the council contributes; below £14,250 savings are ignored, though income is still assessed. The house is never counted for care in your own home.

Does Attendance Allowance cover home care costs?

It covers a meaningful part. Attendance Allowance is £76.70 or £114.60 a week in 2026/27, is not means-tested, and can be spent on care. The higher rate is £5,959 a year — around three and a half hours of care a week at typical hourly rates.

Why do evening and weekend visits cost more?

Agencies pay carers more for unsocial hours, and that feeds through to the price. Evenings, weekends and especially bank holidays usually carry higher rates than weekday daytimes. Ask any agency for its full rate card in writing before committing.

Is home care free in Scotland?

Personal care — help with washing, dressing and medication — is free in Scotland for people the council assesses as needing it, whatever their income. Domestic help and other services can still be charged for. See mygov.scot for details.

How much does home care cost in the UK? (2026)

Home care in the UK typically costs around £26 to £38 an hour in 2026, with an average of around £32 — more in London and the South East, and more for evenings, weekends and bank holidays. But the sticker price is only half the story: what a family actually pays depends on the council’s means test and on benefits that most eligible families never claim. This guide covers both halves.

This guide is general information, not financial or legal advice. For advice about your own situation, speak to a regulated professional, or a free service such as Citizens Advice or Age UK.

What does home care cost per hour?

The typical range in 2026 is around £26 to £38 an hour, averaging around £32. A useful sanity check: the Homecare Association — the trade body for home care providers — recommends a sustainable rate of £34.42 an hour for 2026/27. A quote near that figure is normal; a quote dramatically below it should prompt questions about how the agency pays and retains its carers.

Rates correct for the 2026/27 tax year. Benefit rates change every April — always check the current figures on gov.uk.

What moves the price:

Region. London and the South East sit at the top of the range; the North of England and Wales tend towards the bottom.
Timing. Evenings, weekends and bank holidays usually cost more than weekday daytimes.
Visit length. Very short visits can cost more per hour than longer ones. Ask about minimum visit lengths — 15-minute visits exist in the sector and are widely criticised as too short to provide decent care.

These are national patterns, not quotes. Ring two or three local agencies before doing any real budgeting.

What does a typical package cost?

The arithmetic is simple once you have an hourly rate. Illustrative figures at around £32 an hour:

Package (illustrative)	Weekly cost	Yearly cost
Three hours a week (e.g. two shower visits and a companionship call)	around £100	around £5,000
One hour a day	around £225	around £11,700
Two hours a day	around £450	around £23,300

These are illustrations, not quotes — real packages mix visit lengths, weekday and weekend rates, and travel arrangements, so ask agencies to price your actual requirement in writing. Our pillar guide to arranging home care covers how to define that requirement and vet the agencies quoting for it.

What do live-in and overnight care cost?

For heavier needs:

Live-in care — a carer living in your parent’s home — typically costs around £220 a day, which works out at roughly £1,500 a week.
Overnight care is roughly £210 a night for a sleeping carer (who can be woken if needed) and up to around £260 a night for a waking carer who stays up.

Again: typical figures, real variation. Get quotes from providers covering your parent’s area.

Who actually pays?

In England, that depends on the council’s financial assessment — the means test — which follows a free care needs assessment. For 2026/27: capital above £23,250 means your parent self-funds; between £14,250 and £23,250 the council contributes, with savings converted to a weekly “tariff income”; below £14,250 savings are ignored, though income is still assessed. Crucially, the house is never counted for care in your parent’s own home — that rule applies only to permanent care home stays. And whatever the council charges, your parent must be left with at least the Minimum Income Guarantee, an income floor set by government each year — check gov.uk for the current figure. The full detail is in our guide to the care means test.

If the council does fund some care, ask about direct payments: the council pays the personal budget to your parent or the family, who then choose and manage the care themselves. Same money, more control, more admin.

How do benefits change the maths?

Substantially — and this is the part most self-funding families miss.

Attendance Allowance is £76.70 a week (lower rate) or £114.60 a week (higher rate) in 2026/27. It is not means-tested: savings, income and home ownership are irrelevant. The higher rate is £5,959 a year.

Put that against the table above: a package of three hours a week — enough for help with showers plus a companionship visit — costs around £5,000 a year at typical rates. Attendance Allowance at the higher rate covers all of it, with change; even the lower rate (£3,988 a year) covers most of it. These are illustrations rather than guarantees, but the shape of the sum is real: Attendance Allowance can turn “we can’t afford help” into “the help is largely paid for”.

Two more to check:

Pension Credit tops up a low income to £238.00 a week for a single person or £363.25 for a couple (2026/27), and an Attendance Allowance award can increase it or create entitlement for the first time. See our Pension Credit guide.
Carer’s Allowance — £86.45 a week in 2026/27 — may be claimable by a family member providing 35 or more hours of care a week who meets the other conditions.

Our free benefits check takes a few minutes and shows what your parent may be entitled to. Do it before deciding how many hours the family can afford — the answer usually changes.

How do you keep the cost sane?

Right-size the visits. Pay for what is needed, not a round number. If the real need is 45 minutes in the morning, don’t buy an hour by default — but don’t buy 15 minutes either.
Review regularly. Needs change in both directions. A quarterly review of the care plan against actual needs is the best cost control there is.
Ask about rates before you need them. Weekend, evening, bank holiday and cancellation charges belong in writing before care starts, not on the first surprising invoice.
Consider employing a carer directly. A directly employed personal assistant usually costs less per hour than an agency and offers more continuity — but the family becomes an employer, with payroll, National Insurance, pension duties, insurance and holiday cover to manage. MoneyHelper explains what that involves; go in with eyes open.

What about Scotland?

Scotland provides free personal care for people assessed as needing it — help with washing, dressing and medication is not charged for, though domestic help and other services can be. See mygov.scot for how the Scottish system works. The means-test figures in this guide are for England.