Short answer: hourly home care in the UK costs around £32 an hour on average in 2026, with most families paying between £26 and £38 depending on region and complexity. Live-in care runs at roughly £220 a day (about £1,540 a week). Overnight care is around £210 a night for a sleeping night and £260 for a waking night.
Worthing, Adur and the wider South East sit at the upper end of those national ranges. Below is the full picture: what each type of care costs, what pushes a quote up or down, how local prices compare, and every route to help paying for it.
What does home care cost in 2026?
There is a useful benchmark for judging any quote you receive. Each year the Homecare Association — the national membership body for home care providers — publishes a minimum sustainable price: the lowest hourly rate at which a provider can pay the National Living Wage, cover carers’ travel time and mileage between calls, fund training and supervision, and remain financially viable.
For 2026/27 that minimum is £34.42 an hour in England, up from £32.14 the previous year. It is aimed at local authorities commissioning care, but it’s the single most useful number a private family can hold in their head.
| Benchmark | 2026 figure |
|---|---|
| UK average hourly home care | £32 per hour |
| Typical UK range | £26–£38 per hour |
| South East / London range | £28–£40 per hour |
| Homecare Association minimum price (England, 2026/27) | £34.42 per hour |
A rate well below the sustainable minimum is not a bargain. That gap is being carried somewhere — usually in unpaid carer travel time, no supervision visits, minimal training, or the kind of staff turnover that means a different stranger at your mother’s door every week.
Hourly, live-in and overnight pricing compared
Hourly (visiting) care
The most common starting point. A carer visits for a set period — typically 30 minutes to two hours — to help with washing, dressing, medication prompts, meals or companionship.
| Package | Typical weekly cost | Typical annual cost |
|---|---|---|
| 5 hours a week (one daily visit) | ~£160 | ~£8,300 |
| 10 hours a week | ~£320 | ~£16,600 |
| 14 hours a week (twice-daily calls) | ~£450 | ~£23,300 |
| 21 hours a week (three visits daily) | ~£670 | ~£35,000 |
Watch the minimum visit charge. Many providers bill a 30-minute call at a rate equivalent to 45 minutes or an hour, so a “£32 an hour” headline can become £20 for a half-hour visit. Ask directly.
Live-in care
A carer lives in the home, sleeping there, providing support through the day and reassurance at night. You provide a private room and food.
- UK average: around £220 a day — roughly £1,540 a week, £6,700 a month, £80,000 a year
- Typical range: £1,200–£1,900 a week, higher for complex or dementia care
- Couples: one live-in carer can often support two people, usually for a modest uplift rather than double — frequently the single best-value option in all of home care
See our full live-in care vs care home comparison.
Overnight care
| Type | What it means | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|
| Sleeping night | Carer sleeps in the home, available if needed (usually up to two brief call-outs) | ~£210 per night |
| Waking night | Carer stays awake throughout, for frequent needs, repositioning or night-time wandering | ~£260 per night |
Our guide to waking nights vs sleeping nights explains which one a person actually needs — getting this wrong is a common and expensive mistake in both directions.
Respite and emergency care
Priced the same as the equivalent hourly, overnight or live-in care, though short-notice emergency respite may carry a premium. Some providers set a minimum booking of a few days for live-in respite.
What affects the cost of care at home
- Hours and visit length. The biggest single driver. Four 30-minute calls cost more than two hours in one block, because each visit carries travel and handover time.
- Time of day. Evenings, early mornings, weekends and bank holidays typically add 15–50% because carers are paid unsocial-hours rates. Christmas Day and New Year’s Day are often double.
- Complexity. Dementia, PEG feeding, stoma care, catheter care, hoisting and end-of-life care all require additional training and usually carry a higher rate.
- Number of carers. A double-up call — two carers for safe hoisting or transfers — costs twice the hourly rate. An occupational therapy assessment sometimes shows equipment can reduce this to a single carer.
- Location. Rural calls with long travel times cost more. Within West Sussex the variation is modest, but a call to an isolated property near Findon costs a provider more than one in central Worthing.
- Introductory agency vs managed service. Introductory platforms advertise from around £19 an hour, but you become the carer’s employer: contracts, wages, tax, holiday pay, insurance, DBS checks and cover when they’re ill all fall to you. A managed CQC-regulated service costs more per hour and absorbs all of that.
- Notice and contract terms. Check the notice period, whether you’re charged for cancelled visits, and whether supervision and quality checks are billed separately.
Local cost comparison: Worthing & Adur
West Sussex sits in the South East, where rates run above the national average but below central London. Here’s how the main options compare locally for a realistic scenario — an 82-year-old needing help morning and evening, plus overnight reassurance.
| Option | Typical local weekly cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Home help / domestic care, 3 visits | £90–£130 | Cleaning, laundry, meals, shopping |
| Personal care, twice daily | £450–£530 | Washing, dressing, medication prompts |
| Personal care + sleeping nights | £1,900–£2,300 | Day calls plus overnight presence |
| Live-in care | £1,400–£1,700 | One carer in the home 24 hours, one person or a couple |
| Residential care home (West Sussex) | £1,100–£1,600 | Room, meals, care — but you leave home |
| Nursing home (West Sussex) | £1,400–£2,000 | As above with registered nursing on site |
Ranges are indicative market figures for 2026, not quotes. Your own price depends on assessed need. Ask any provider for their current rate card in writing.
The pattern is worth noticing. At light and moderate levels, home care is dramatically cheaper than residential care. The crossover comes somewhere around 40–50 hours a week — and at that point live-in care usually becomes better value than stacking hourly visits and nights, while still keeping the person at home. Our home care vs care home guide works through the decision properly.
How to reduce or fund care costs
Attendance Allowance — start here
A tax-free, non-means-tested benefit for people over State Pension age who need help with personal care or supervision. It doesn’t matter what you have in savings or whether you own your home. From April 2026 it pays:
- £76.70 a week (lower rate) — help needed during the day or at night
- £114.60 a week (higher rate) — help needed day and night, or you’re terminally ill
That’s up to £5,959 a year towards care. It is one of the most under-claimed benefits in the UK — roughly 1.7 million people claim it, and many more are eligible. The claim form is long; Age UK and Citizens Advice will help you fill it in free of charge.
Local authority funding
Anyone who appears to need care is entitled to a free care needs assessment from West Sussex County Council, regardless of income. If eligible needs are identified, a financial assessment follows:
| Capital (England, 2026/27) | What happens |
|---|---|
| Above £23,250 | You fund your own care in full |
| £14,250–£23,250 | Council contributes; you pay “tariff income” of £1 a week for every £250 above £14,250, plus an assessed amount from income |
| Below £14,250 | Capital disregarded entirely; only income is assessed |
The point most families miss: for care delivered in your own home, the value of your property is not counted in the means test. That’s one of the sharpest practical differences between home care and residential care funding — and a reason to explore care at home before assuming a house sale is inevitable.
NHS Continuing Healthcare
If the person has a complex, ongoing “primary health need”, the NHS pays 100% of care costs with no means test — including care at home. It is assessed via a checklist and then a full multidisciplinary assessment. It’s hard to get, frequently refused, and genuinely worth pursuing for anyone with substantial nursing-level needs. Ask the GP or discharge team for a checklist assessment.
Direct payments and personal budgets
If the council agrees to fund care, you can take the money as a direct payment and choose your own provider rather than accepting whoever the council commissions. Most families who do this report better continuity of carers.
Other help worth checking
- Carer’s Allowance — £86.45 a week (2026/27) for someone caring 35+ hours a week and earning under the threshold
- Pension Credit — tops up weekly income and acts as a gateway to other support
- Council Tax reduction or disregard — including the severe mental impairment disregard, which can be backdated and is widely missed
- Disabled Facilities Grant — up to £30,000 via Adur & Worthing Councils towards adaptations that may reduce the care hours needed
- VAT relief — disability-related equipment and some adaptations are zero-rated
Full detail in our West Sussex home care funding guide.
Getting a clear price, not an estimate
No provider can quote accurately without assessing the need in person. Any reputable agency will visit free of charge and give you a written proposal and a firm price, with no obligation to proceed.
Frequently asked questions
How much is home care per hour in West Sussex?
Typically £28–£38 an hour in 2026 for managed, CQC-regulated agency care, with the South East sitting above the £32 UK average. The Homecare Association’s minimum sustainable price for England in 2026/27 is £34.42 an hour.
Is live-in care cheaper than a care home?
Often comparable, and better value for couples. Live-in care averages around £1,540 a week nationally against £1,100–£1,600 for a West Sussex residential home and £1,400–£2,000 for nursing care. Because one live-in carer can support two people, a couple needing care will almost always pay less for live-in care than for two care home places.
Can I get help paying for home care?
Yes, through several routes: Attendance Allowance (non-means-tested, £76.70 or £114.60 a week), local authority funding after a needs and financial assessment, NHS Continuing Healthcare for primary health needs, and direct payments. Start with Attendance Allowance — it’s the quickest win and doesn’t depend on savings.
Does my house count when the council assesses me for home care?
No. For care delivered in your own home, the property’s value is excluded from the means test. Only savings, investments and other capital count towards the £14,250 and £23,250 thresholds.
Why do home care prices vary so much between providers?
Mostly because of what’s included. Introductory agencies are cheaper because you become the carer’s legal employer, handling contracts, tax, cover and insurance yourself. Managed CQC-regulated providers cost more per hour but absorb recruitment, training, supervision, sickness cover and regulatory responsibility.
The Care Panel is an independent publication. We are not a care provider and are not regulated by the Care Quality Commission, because we do not deliver care. Always check a provider’s own CQC registration and inspection report before you commit.
Written and fact-checked by The Care Panel. Figures current as at September 2026; sources include the Homecare Association, DWP benefit rates 2026/27, the Department of Health and Social Care charging circular, and gov.uk. Reviewed annually each January, with a benefits check each April. This is general information, not financial advice.