The cost of care in Barking and Dagenham

Barking and Dagenham care prices at a glance

According to the Homecare Association, councils in England need to pay at least £34.42 an hour in 2026/27 for home care to be sustainable. An average conceals big differences. What a home charges turns on the room, the care level and whether nursing is part of it. Self-funders tend to be charged more than councils for the same room.

Quality of care services in Barking and Dagenham

159 home care agencies and 22 care homes are registered with CQC in Barking and Dagenham. Of those rated, 88% of agencies are Good or Outstanding (close to the England figure of 88%) and 95% of care homes (higher than England's 83%). 77 agencies and 1 care homes have not been rated yet.

What the data shows for Barking and Dagenham

At the other end of the scale from the 1 Outstanding care home, 1 of the area's rated care homes (5%) are Requires improvement or Inadequate; the England share is 17%. Together the 22 care homes that report their size have 597 beds; the typical home has 9.

Our modelled typical self-funder price for an hour's help at home in Barking and Dagenham is £37.50 an hour, compared with £37.50 regionally and £33.50 nationally. Two companies share the top spot in Barking and Dagenham: Prudent Care Homes Limited and SASA Homes Limited, with 2 services each.

£1,640 a week: that is our estimate of a typical private fee for a care home place locally (London: £1,670; England: £1,520). It is not a quote. Nursing places run at about £1,870, residential at about £1,620. Of Barking and Dagenham's 22 care homes, 21 have a CQC rating; 95% of those are Good or Outstanding, against 83% for England. Of these, 7 provide nursing, which is 32% of homes in the area.

Data: CQC, Oct 2026. Prices: The Care Panel fee index, Q4 2026.

Getting an accurate price

• Per-hour rates on weekdays, in the evening, at weekends and on bank holidays.
• The minimum length of a call, and whether travel is charged.
• For a home: everything the weekly price covers, and how often it goes up.

Collect these in writing, run the totals through the weekly cost calculator, then check your contribution with What will I pay?