Paying for care in Brighton and Hove

Step one: assessing needs

Brighton & Hove City Council begins by assessing needs, free of charge. When those needs are eligible it sets a personal budget, which is its estimate of what meeting them would cost. The number to call is 01273 295555. The needs assessment in Brighton and Hove, explained.

Step two: income and savings

The council's financial assessment weighs income against capital. Working up from the bottom, the 2026/27 bands are:

• Below £14,250: savings are left out of the sums, and the person pays from income, if anything.
• From £14,250 up to £23,250: the council pays part, and the council counts £1 a week of "tariff income" per £250 held over £14,250.
• Above £23,250: the person normally meets the whole cost.

Staying at home? Then the house is disregarded and the person keeps at least a Minimum Income Guarantee, set at £241.45 a week for a single pensioner. Moving to residential or nursing care? The property normally counts unless a partner or certain relatives still live there; the first 12 weeks are disregarded, and the resident keeps the Personal Expenses Allowance: £31.80 each week.

Brighton & Hove City Council: paying for care.

What the data shows for Brighton and Hove

Our modelled typical self-funder price for residential or nursing care in Brighton and Hove is £1,560 a week. The South East figure is £1,620 and England's is £1,520. Nursing places run at about £1,840, residential at about £1,560. England-wide, 88% of rated home care agencies are Good or Outstanding; in Brighton and Hove it is 86%, from 37 rated agencies among the 52 registered.

£33.50 an hour: that is our estimate of a typical private fee for a visiting carer locally, against a regional £33.50 (South East) and £33.50 for England. It is not a quote. There are 86 care homes in Brighton and Hove, and 92% of the 84 with a rating are Good or Outstanding (ahead of England's 83%). Of these, 26 provide nursing, which is 30% of homes in the area.

CQC published 25 ratings for services in Brighton and Hove in the last 12 months; of those, 4 improved, 1 was first-ever ratings. The most recent was on 27 October 2026.

Based on the register as of Oct 2026, with Q4 2026 fee estimates from our index.

Help that ignores savings

Attendance Allowance ignores savings and property entirely, though many families never claim it. It pays a weekly £76.70, or £114.60 at the higher rate to those of State Pension age or older who need personal care. For family carers, a carer putting in 35 hours a week or more could qualify for Carer's Allowance.

On the health side, NHS Continuing Healthcare meets the entire cost if needs are mainly health-related; NHS-funded nursing care is paid to nursing homes towards residents' nursing. Find out what you could get.

Deferred payments

Where property is counted towards residential fees, Brighton & Hove City Council must make a deferred payment agreement available to those eligible, so the house does not have to be sold in the person's lifetime. Expect interest and an administration fee.

Choosing your own care with direct payments

You can ask for the council's contribution to home care as cash, then pick an agency or employ a personal assistant. This works whether it funds part of the support or all of it. Brighton & Hove City Council: direct payments.