Respite Care in Barnet: Costs, Funding and 95 Local Agencies (Oct 2026)

Types of respite care

There are three main routes. A carer can come to the home for a few hours while you get out, or live in for days or weeks (live-in respite) while you are away. A care home can offer a short stay, usually a week or two and often booked well in advance for holidays. Ask the 80 registered care homes in Barnet whether they take short stays. Or there are day centres run by charities or the council.

Ask for a carer's assessment

Funded breaks, personal budgets for carers and other support can all follow from a carer's assessment. As a carer you are entitled to one from the London Borough of Barnet, free and apart from any assessment of the person you look after; it focuses on how caring affects your life. For advice, call Carers UK free on 0808 808 7777. Getting assessed by the London Borough of Barnet.

Paying for respite yourself

Paying privately? Check each agency's shortest visit and how much notice it needs, and ask care homes if they hold rooms for short stays. Visit the home first, and pass on the care plan, the list of medicines and daily routines to help the stay go well.

Agencies covering Barnet: the data

In Barnet, 77% of agencies support people with dementia (73 of 95); the London figure is 81%. On their CQC registrations, 75 of 95 list physical disabilities, 51 of 95 list learning disabilities and 57 of 95 list mental health conditions. Compare Barnet's 95% Good or Outstanding with 89% for the rated agencies among the 2,431 we list in London. CQC registered Personal Promise Home Care Ltd in September 2026, the newest on this list. One rating goes back to July 2018: Angelic Care. Ask what has changed since. Ranked against the 6 closest towns on our site by the share of every listed agency that is rated Good or Outstanding, Barnet comes 2nd of 7 (60%), with Brent top at 62%.

What respite care costs in Barnet

Typical prices in London in 2026
Visiting care	£30–£40 an hour
Sleeping night	£190–£230
Waking night	£240–£320
Live-in care	£1,300–£1,800 a week
Residential care home	£1,456 a week
Nursing home	£1,680 a week

Homecare Association figure for 2026/27: a sustainable council rate for home care in England starts at £34.42 an hour. Work out a weekly cost · What would we pay?

Respite care in Barnet: common questions

Who provides respite care in Barnet?

95 agencies on the CQC register are based in the borough of Barnet, and 63 hold a Good or Outstanding rating. Which of them provide respite care is not recorded by CQC: ask them.

Is there free respite care?

Free or low-cost sitting services are run by charities and carers' centres. The council can also arrange or fund breaks when a carer's assessment, which you request from the London Borough of Barnet, shows you are eligible.

When should we book a respite stay in a care home?

Several weeks if you can, and longer for school holidays. Not every home keeps rooms for short stays, so ask when you first call.

How good are home care agencies around Barnet?

95% Good or Outstanding (63 of 66 rated). 19 were inspected or rated within two years, and 73 are registered for dementia.

Arranging respite care in Barnet?

Tell us what's needed once. Up to three agencies that take enquiries through us reply to you directly, by email.

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Care options in Barnet

Respite care in nearby towns

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Built from the Care Quality Commission's register (Oct 2026) under Open Government Licence v3.0. The Care Panel lists and compares services but runs none.

Respite care in Barnet