Written by Oliver Wakefield-Smith. Reviewed for accuracy against the Homecare Association's 2026/27 minimum-price report and Age UK's 2026 factsheets. Numbers verified 21 June 2026.

About this site

This is a single-author guide to the cost of home care in the UK in 2026, written for the family member who has just been quoted £28-£35 an hour for their mum and wants to know whether that is fair, and what the council will pay toward it.

What this site is

• A calculator that does the means-test maths in one place.
• Honest 2026 ranges, drawn from primary sources.
• Provider profiles that report what each provider publishes, no more.
• Region pages with the real range, not a national average.

What it is not

• A lead-generation funnel: there is no form that wants a phone number.
• Affiliated with any home-care provider: it takes no referral fees.
• A substitute for a council assessment or formal legal advice.
• An AI-generated content farm: every word is written and edited by one named person.

Who it is for

Adult children of older parents, primarily in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, who are at the start of a care decision and want to think about money clearly. Most readers find the site after a quote from an agency. Most leave with a number for the kitchen table.

Flagging a wrong number

Email the address at the bottom of the who wrote this page. Corrections are made within the same week the flag arrives. The site is small enough to be careful.