Paying for home care in England

In the UK, 44% of people in residential care homes are paying the full costs of care themselves. With 74% of people who receive care at home obtaining some measure of funding for care in their own home, live-in care could be more affordable than you think.

Receiving care and support at home enables people to continue living in the comfort of their own home for as long as possible. We understand that as you are organising care in your home there will be important questions on how it can be funded.

We have set out a quick overview of how home care funding works in England, including access to local authority funding, benefits you may be eligible for and funding for adaptations to make your home safer. These are just a guide however you will need to investigate more thoroughly to understand what you can access. Financial assessment thresholds for funding vary by local authority.

Home care is usually funded by either the person receiving care or the local authority (there is also NHS continuing healthcare funding which we look into on the next page).

Self-funding is when the person receiving care pays for their care privately.

State-funding is when the person’s care is paid for by the local authority (ICB, CHC or Council).

Which sort of funding applies to you depends on how much money you have in capital and assets.