Extra care housing (also called housing with care or assisted living) gives older people their own flat or bungalow, with a care team on site 24 hours a day. You keep your own front door and tenancy, and care is arranged as and when you need it. There are 741 extra care housing services registered with the Care Quality Commission across 138 council areas in England, and 90% of those rated are Good or Outstanding.
At a glance
- Your own home, usually a flat, in a scheme with shared lounges, a restaurant and a care team on site.
- You pay rent or buy the flat, plus a service charge, plus the care you use. Care is means-tested like care at home, and the home you leave is not counted.
- Housing Benefit or Pension Credit can help with rent and some service charges.
- Most places are allocated through the council or a housing association after a care needs assessment.
- It suits people who need some daily care but not 24-hour nursing.
Find extra care housing by council area
- Barking and Dagenham (4)
- Barnet (10)
- Barnsley (2)
- Bath and North East Somerset (1)
- Bedford (4)
- Birmingham (12)
- Blackburn with Darwen (2)
- Blackpool (1)
- Bolton (2)
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (5)
- Bradford (11)
- Brent (6)
- Brighton and Hove (2)
- Bristol, City of (14)
- Bromley (4)
- Buckinghamshire (4)
- Bury (3)
- Calderdale (6)
- Cambridgeshire (11)
- Camden (5)
- Cheshire East (4)
- Cheshire West and Chester (7)
- Cornwall (3)
- County Durham (3)
- Coventry (4)
- Croydon (7)
- Cumberland (4)
- Derby (3)
- Derbyshire (3)
- Devon (8)
- Doncaster (6)
- Dorset (3)
- Ealing (1)
- East Riding of Yorkshire (2)
- East Sussex (6)
- Enfield (4)
- Essex (15)
- Gateshead (8)
- Gloucestershire (6)
- Greenwich (4)
- Hackney (3)
- Hammersmith and Fulham (2)
- Hampshire (24)
- Haringey (3)
- Harrow (4)
- Hartlepool (1)
- Havering (2)
- Herefordshire, County of (3)
- Hertfordshire (8)
- Hillingdon (5)
- Hounslow (6)
- Isle of Wight (1)
- Islington (1)
- Kensington and Chelsea (4)
- Kent (10)
- Kingston upon Hull, City of (5)
- Kirklees (5)
- Knowsley (9)
- Lambeth (6)
- Lancashire (14)
- Leeds (11)
- Leicester (3)
- Leicestershire (8)
- Lewisham (5)
- Lincolnshire (4)
- Liverpool (6)
- Manchester (12)
- Medway (4)
- Merton (2)
- Middlesbrough (3)
- Milton Keynes (4)
- Newcastle upon Tyne (3)
- Newham (4)
- Norfolk (23)
- North East Lincolnshire (2)
- North Lincolnshire (2)
- North Northamptonshire (6)
- North Somerset (4)
- North Tyneside (5)
- North Yorkshire (23)
- Northumberland (1)
- Nottingham (1)
- Nottinghamshire (5)
- Oxfordshire (17)
- Peterborough (7)
- Plymouth (1)
- Portsmouth (4)
- Reading (5)
- Redbridge (5)
- Redcar and Cleveland (2)
- Richmond upon Thames (2)
- Rochdale (1)
- Rotherham (1)
- Sandwell (5)
- Sefton (1)
- Sheffield (3)
- Shropshire (1)
- Slough (2)
- Solihull (3)
- Somerset (6)
- South Gloucestershire (7)
- South Tyneside (4)
- Southampton (7)
- Southwark (2)
- St. Helens (4)
- Staffordshire (13)
- Stockport (5)
- Stockton-on-Tees (4)
- Stoke-on-Trent (8)
- Suffolk (24)
- Sunderland (11)
- Surrey (6)
- Sutton (4)
- Tameside (2)
- Telford and Wrekin (4)
- Thurrock (3)
- Torbay (1)
- Tower Hamlets (5)
- Trafford (5)
- Wakefield (3)
- Walsall (1)
- Waltham Forest (2)
- Wandsworth (4)
- Warrington (6)
- Warwickshire (6)
- West Berkshire (4)
- West Northamptonshire (5)
- West Sussex (17)
- Westminster (4)
- Westmorland and Furness (4)
- Wigan (5)
- Wiltshire (3)
- Windsor and Maidenhead (1)
- Wirral (3)
- Wokingham (1)
- Wolverhampton (5)
- Worcestershire (13)
- York (2)
Extra care housing by region
| Region | Registered services | Rated Good or Outstanding |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 119 | 73% |
| London | 114 | 98% |
| North West | 99 | 97% |
| East of England | 95 | 94% |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 84 | 92% |
| West Midlands | 74 | 89% |
| South West | 62 | 93% |
| North East | 45 | 94% |
| East Midlands | 38 | 79% |
| England | 741 | 90% |
Extra care, retirement villages and care homes compared
| Retirement flat or sheltered housing | Extra care housing | Care home | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your own front door | Yes | Yes | No, a room |
| Care on site | No, a warden or alarm only | Yes, 24 hours | Yes, 24 hours |
| Regulated by CQC | No (the housing isn’t) | Yes, the care service | Yes |
| How you pay | Rent or buy, plus service charge | Rent or buy, service charge, plus care used | One weekly fee for everything |
| Is your old home counted? | Not applicable | No, it’s your new home | Yes, after 12 weeks, unless a partner lives there |
Retirement villages are larger extra care or retirement developments, often with shops, gyms and clubs on site. Larger villages usually include an on-site care service registered with CQC, so many appear in the lists above.
Weighing up the options? Read care home or extra care housing, or compare care near you →
What extra care housing costs
- Housing: rent (social or private), or the purchase price or a shared-ownership share.
- Service charge: communal areas, staff, the emergency alarm and sometimes meals. Part may be covered by Housing Benefit.
- Care: charged by the hour or as a weekly package. If the council arranges it, it is means-tested like home care: see what your council pays for care and what will I pay?
How to get a place
- Ask the council for a care needs assessment.
- Apply to the council’s housing register or the scheme’s landlord. Many schemes are for people aged 55 or 60 and over with care needs.
- Visit schemes and ask about waiting lists, care hours included and charges.
- For private schemes, check the lease, event fees (charged when you sell) and service charge history.
Sources
- CQC register of active locations, 1 October 2026 (service type: extra care housing services)
- CQC: using CQC data