Live-in careCost guide
Is live-in care cheaper than a care home?
For one person the headline prices are surprisingly close; the real difference is in the bills, the house and the hidden extras. For a couple, live-in care almost always wins, because a care home charges two fees while one carer looks after you both.
By James Bowdler, founder of PrimeCarers · Updated August 2026
The short answer
Live-in care vs care home costs, at a glance
The average UK care home costs about £1,160 per week for one person (£1,410 with nursing), with housing, bills and food included. Live-in care is typically £1,120 per week for one person, plus around £179 a week to keep the home running. For one person the totals land within about £140 a week of each other, before care home extras; for a couple, live-in care costs roughly £750–£1,250 a week less, because one carer looks after both of you while a care home charges two fees.
| Live-in care | Care home | |
|---|---|---|
| Care fees | £1,120/week | £1,160/week |
| Rent, bills & food | ~£179/week on top | Included |
| Typical all-in total | ~£1,300/week | £1,160/week (£1,410 nursing) |
| Live-in care | Care home | |
|---|---|---|
| Care fees | £1,350/week (one carer for both) | £2,320/week (two places) |
| Rent, bills & food | ~£231/week on top | Included |
| Typical all-in total | ~£1,580/week | £2,320/week (£2,820 nursing) |
How much does a care home cost per week?
Residential care home costs in the UK typically run from £1,100 to £1,600+ per week per person, averaging around £1,160, and about £1,410 a week for a nursing home. The fee covers the room, meals, bills and shared care staff, but extras like one-to-one hours, special diets and escorted appointments are usually billed on top, and fees rise most years.
How much does live-in care cost per week?
Live-in care costs typically range from £1,050 to £1,400 per week. Traditional agencies charge £1,400+, while choosing your own vetted carer on PrimeCarers is typically £1,120 a week with our fee included, from £1,050 for standard care for one person, and about £1,350 for a couple or complex needs. The carer’s fee covers one-to-one care day and night; you keep paying your normal household bills. Read the full live-in care cost guide.
Typical 2026 UK figures. Your own cost comparison depends on your home, bills and pensions. The calculator below works it out for your family, and shows how long your savings would last either way.
The cost calculator
How long would your money last with each option?
Averages hide the answer, because it depends on your home, your bills and your pensions. Answer a few short questions (one at a time, rough figures are fine, and nothing is stored or sent anywhere) and we’ll show you the weekly cost of each option and how long your savings would last.
Question 1 of 8
Who lives at home?
Care and housing costs look very different for one person than for a couple, so let's start here.
Your answers stay on this page; nothing is stored or sent.
Behind the numbers
Why the “cheaper” answer depends on your house
A care home fee bundles rent, bills, food and care into one number. Live-in care sits on top of a home you’re already running. Comparing the two fairly means putting the household costs back into the picture.
What running the home adds each month
Typical monthly costs of staying put: the part a care home fee would absorb. The fixed bills (council tax, energy, water, broadband, insurance) run at about £550 whoever lives there, then each person adds roughly £225 for food and extra utilities. If you rent, add the rent on top; if the home is owned outright, this is the whole picture.
| Household | Per-person costs | Fixed bills | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 person | £225 | £550 | £775/month |
| 2 people | £450 | £550 | £1,000/month |
| 3 people | £675 | £550 | £1,225/month |
| 4 people | £900 | £550 | £1,450/month |
So for one person, £1,120 a week of live-in care plus ~£179 of bills lands a little above the £1,160 average care home. For two people it’s £1,350 plus ~£231 against £2,320 of care home fees. That is the whole comparison, and it’s why the calculator asks about your home.
The costs the brochures don’t mention
Care home fee creep
The headline fee is rarely the final fee. Extras for one-to-one time, special diets, escorted appointments and activities are added over time. Families are often paying hundreds a week more within a year or two, and annual increases routinely outpace inflation.
The empty home
Move into a care home without selling and the house still costs money: insurance, council tax, heating to stop the damp. And with nobody living in it, its value usually starts counting towards the means test.
Two fees for couples
A care home charges per resident, and couples are often in separate rooms, or separate homes. A live-in carer looks after both of you for one rate that is typically only about a fifth more than caring for one.
The move itself
Leaving familiar surroundings is a real cost, even if it never appears on an invoice. For people living with dementia especially, the home (its objects, smells and routines) is part of how memory works. Decline often accelerates after a move.
Four ways families bring the at-home cost down
Family can cover days
If family can take over weekends or holiday weeks, you only pay for the care you need. That flexibility simply doesn’t exist with a care home’s all-inclusive fee.
Attendance Allowance
Not means-tested, and most older people who need daily help qualify for up to around £115 a week towards care at home.
Choose the carer directly
Traditional live-in agencies charge £1,400+ a week. On PrimeCarers you choose a vetted private carer and pay their rate: typically £1,120 a week with our fee included, from £1,050.
Council help & NHS funding
Below £23,250 in countable savings the council contributes after a needs assessment, and NHS Continuing Healthcare covers the full cost where needs are primarily health-based, at home or in a home.
More detail in our guides to the cost of live-in care and funding live-in care.
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Your questions about paying for care
The questions families ask us most when they’re weighing a care home against staying put. Prefer to talk it through with a person?
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The headline prices are close: live-in care is typically £1,120 a week on PrimeCarers, against roughly £1,160 a week for an average care home (£1,410 with nursing). Once you add the cost of running your home (around £179 a week in bills and food, plus any rent), a care home can edge ahead on pure pounds for a single person who rents. For homeowners it is usually a near tie, and the one-to-one attention of live-in care is a level of service care homes charge heavily for.
Almost always, and by a wide margin. A care home charges per resident (around £2,320 a week for two), while one live-in carer looks after you both for a single rate, typically only about a fifth more than caring for one (around £1,350 a week). Even after household bills, couples usually save several hundred pounds a week staying home together. Read our live-in care for couples guide.
Not necessarily, and never while you receive care in it. Your home is disregarded from the means test while you or your partner live there, so choosing live-in care protects it entirely. It usually only starts counting if you move into a care home and nobody qualifying remains at home; even then, deferred payment agreements let the council collect from the eventual sale rather than forcing one now.
In England, if your countable capital is above £23,250 you pay for care in full. Below it, the council contributes on a sliding scale after a care-needs assessment, and below £14,250 only your income is assessed. What counts as capital depends on where care happens; your home is excluded while you live in it.
Usually, yes. Annual increases commonly run ahead of inflation, and extras (one-to-one hours, special diets, escorted hospital visits) are billed on top of the headline fee. With live-in care through PrimeCarers you agree the carer’s rate up front, and it only changes if you agree a new one.
Attendance Allowance (not means-tested, up to around £115 a week), council funding after a needs assessment, and NHS Continuing Healthcare, which covers the full cost where needs are primarily health-based. See our funding guide for how to apply.
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