When you have a loved one who needs a high or complex level of care, you eventually get to the point at which you have to decide whether to choose to send your loved one to a care home or choose live-in care.
Of course, apart from any other consideration, the cost of the different care options is going to be a major factor in the decision, so we thought we’d discuss the cost of private home care in 2026.
Before we look at the costs, however, we should distinguish between live-in care and 24-hour live-in care.
Both live-in care and 24-hour care involve at least one person living in your loved one’s home.
However, as the name implies, 24-hour care involves carers providing care and support round the clock, which means that care will be provided in shifts from multiple, professional carergiverss.
By contrast, standard live-in care will mean that your loved one’s carergiver will not provide care for a period of several hours.
People often assume that live-in care is more costly than a residential home. That’s generally true for 24-hour live-in care (although it’s not as straightforward as that) but it’s not always true for live-in care.
According to carehome.co.uk, the average weekly cost of residential care is £1298, whereas the average weekly cost of nursing homes is £1535.
The NHS says that live-in care can cost anywhere from £800 to £1 600 a week depending on the level of care support needed.
However, a comparison between the two simply isn’t that straightforward.
When the broader picture is taken into account, live-in care may actually work out cheaper or to be more cost effective at least.
One obvious point at which this comparison breaks down is at the fundamental level of care. While care homes provide an excellent level of care, it’s split up amongst a number of people. This just isn’t the case for live-in care.
When your loved one has live-in care at home, care is focussed solely on them.
You might disagree, but that suggests to us that there’s more value to be had in live-in care, and that’s without considering any of the other benefits that come with home-based care.
With that focussed care comes greater flexibility and the ability to accommodate your loved one’s preferences and routines, even on a day-to-day basis.
Rather than have routines imposed on them, your loved one will be able to set their own routines or simply follow the routine they’ve been following for years.
Simply put, home-based care is almost defined by being personalised and person-centred.
The cost and inconvenience of moving is also easily overlooked when calculating the cost. Apart from the time and money that goes with your loved one moving into a care home, there is the emotional cost that has to be added into the equation. Moving itself is difficult, but there’s a particularly strong emotional tearing that happens when a person is forced into moving out of their home because circumstances dictate it.
Another caveat to the numbers we provided above is that it doesn’t take into account the living situation of couples. Some care homes only cater for individuals, which means splitting up a couple so that care can be provided for one partner. Apart from the obvious emotional strain that this causes, the financial ramifications are complicated since the care home costs have to be paid and the partner left behind has to continue living in their home with all the costs involved.
The picture is also more complex for couples when both partners require care. Again, while there are some care homes that offer accommodation for couples, this changes the pricing structure. Additionally, not all care homes have this kind of facility, and many care homes require that each partner take separate places. Of course, this has financial implications and could see a total weekly bill of £3000 orf more for the couple. Again, there is also the emotional cost involved, as the couple faces separation.
Apart from this scenario, even if only one partner needs care, the having a highly qualified, professional caregiverr around brings a level of reassurance for the more able partner, since they can enjoy life with their partner while enjoying their own independence. Of course, if an unforeseen medical emergency should suddenly strike them, their partner’s live-in caregiverr will be on hand to provide assistance.
You just cannot put a value to that sort of peace of mind.
We’ve already alluded to some benefits of live-in care that cannot have a monetary value placed on them, but we would be remiss to fail to mention some of the other major benefits.
The most obvious of these is your loved one getting to stay in their own home. Moving into a care home to essentially start a new life, while being incredibly vulnerable, is traumatic.
Being able to stay in their own home means that all the happy memories can exist with them as they continue living in a space that is very much their own, where they can do as they like without having to worry about other residents or any regulations.
In their own home, your loved one can receive visitors, host family get togethers, have their privacy and maintain as much freedom as they are physically able to enjoy.
In short, they get to run their own life in a way that’s impossible with residential care.
Having a live-in care assistant also has the benefit of providing companionship. Your loved one’s carer will get to know your loved on a personal level and provide friendshipcompanionship.
This is a ward against loneliness which is especially affecting in the elderly, and it means that your loved one has another confident and friendly presence to enjoy. Social engagement is particularly important to us, so this is a significant advantage to your loved one.
Of course, this also means that the caregiverr is best placed to notice subtle changes to your loved one that might require attention.
Another important advantage is the ability to keep pets. Usually, pets have to be given up when moving to residential care, adding an additional emotional cost to the move.
By contrast, keeping a beloved family pet nearby provides comfort and companionship that makes life more worthwhile for your loved one.
Apart from what we’ve already discussed, there are several services that are come with an in-home care service:
While residential care is comparable to live-in care for a single person, a straight cost-comparison is only a fraction of the story. When you consider the other factors to the equation, live-in care’s value proposition is particularly attractive.
For couples, of course, the comparison is not as favourable for residential care, and live-in care is often just more cost effective as well as having all the other benefits of live-in care.
If you are looking into care options for your loved one, we would love to chat to you and explore the options available to you. As an award-winning care provider, we are the right people to provide you with advice and answer any questions you may have. We are well placed to talk to you about funding options that may be available to you.
Residential care is provided in a care home. If you were to use residential care for your loved one, they would need to go to a care home and leave their home behind.
Live-in care, like the care we offer, is care provided in the home of your loved one. They do not have to leave their homes and memories and care comes to them.
No, but we offer live-in care (including 24-hour live-in care) in Bedfordshire, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire.
Our live-in care is flexible and is designed to change as your loved one’s needs change. In fact, our carers will look for signs that suggest that we need to sit down with you and your loved one to adjust the care plan to better serve your loved one.
We can help direct you to the relevant authorities to see if you qualify for funding, but self-funding is the most common way of funding live-in care.
We're here to support you every step of the way. Whether you have questions about our services or need assistance in finding the right care for your loved one, our compassionate team is ready to help.
We understand that this journey can be challenging and we're committed to providing you with the information and support you need.
