Best home care agencies in the UK (CQC-checked, October 2026)
Bruno Ceccolini
Co-founder · Care Consultant · Updated 31 October 2026
Key Takeaways
Nine CQC-registered locations, scored on 31 October 2026, for home care agencies in the UK. Outstanding beats Good, inspections older than four years lose 15 points, and a website-checked published price or live-in offer adds 5 each. We run Match With Care. We are not CQC-registered as a care provider, so we sit in a labelled box outside this list. Method: how we rank agencies.
Priya opened Consultus's own "Best 5 Live-in Care Agencies in the UK" on the 7.42 from Clapham Junction, somewhere between Vauxhall and Waterloo. Consultus is first. Helping Hands is second. The CQC report for Consultus at 4 London Road, Tonbridge, still says 20 February 2019.
Age UK (updated 18 February 2026) still points families at registered homecare agencies, or at arranging a private carer themselves. If savings sit above £23,250, Age UK says the council will not help with care costs. The NHS puts help at home from a paid carer at about £15 to £30 an hour, and is plain that you might need a live-in carer. Age UK's cost page (updated 29 October 2026) puts privately arranged care at home around £25 an hour. Attendance Allowance is still £76.70 a week, or £114.60 if help is needed through both day and night.
The NHS national homecare providers list (last reviewed 12 April 2024) names Trinity, Helping Hands, Home Instead, Cera, Consultus, Bluebird Care, The Good Care Group and Promedica24. Being on that list is not a CQC rating.
How we scored these home care agencies
The CQC (updated 1 July 2025) registers people who carry on regulated activity. Homecare agencies that provide personal care have to be on that register. Introductory platforms do not, which is why Elder, Curam, Care.com UK and Match With Care are not in this table.
Each location starts at 100 for Outstanding, 60 for Good, or 20 for Requires improvement. An inspection older than four years, or missing, loses 15. A listed specialism matching a niche would add 10; this national home-care set has no niche filter, so that bonus is zero. A website-checked published hourly or weekly from-price adds 5. A website-checked live-in offer adds 5. Ties break on the more recent inspection, then the name. Full rules: agency ranking methodology. Pages opened for this round are named under each agency. Checked 31 October 2026.
Home Instead and Bluebird Care are franchises. The scores below are for the named CQC location we opened, not every office that uses the brand. Helping Hands is scored on Cambridge, the recent Good report we opened for Midshires Care Limited.
What are the best home care agencies in the UK?
On this 31 October 2026 check we scored nine CQC-registered locations that the NHS still lists as national, or that sit on competitor comparison pages. The table is the order.
| Rank | Agency | Score | CQC rating | Last inspection | Website-checked fact | Drawback |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trinity Homecare (Worcester Park) | 110 | Outstanding | Report published 9 Oct 2025 | Live-in from £1,694 a week | One CQC office; live-in is sold nationwide from it |
| 2 | Home Instead Chichester & Bognor Regis | 105 | Outstanding | Report published 23 Sep 2026 | Live-in listed on the Chichester page | No from-price; one franchise, not every Home Instead office |
| 3 | Bluebird Care (Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea) | 105 | Outstanding | Report published 17 Apr 2026 | Live-in listed on the local site | No from-price on the pages we opened |
| 4 | Unique Senior Care | 95 | Outstanding | Report published 27 Aug 2021 | Live-in from £265 a day / £1,855 a week | Inspection more than four years old |
| 5 | The Good Care Group | 95 | Outstanding | Report published 12 Apr 2019 | Live-in from £256 a day | Inspection older than Unique's |
| 6 | Helping Hands (Cambridge) | 70 | Good | Report published 2 Jun 2026 | Visiting from £32.40 an hour; live-in from £1,675 a week | Rating is Good, so it starts 40 points behind Outstanding |
| 7 | Avelon Live-in Care | 70 | Good | Report published 26 May 2023 | Managed live-in from £1,295 a week | Promedica24 URL now serves this brand; inspection older than Cambridge |
| 8 | Cera (Wiltshire) | 65 | Good | Report published 25 Feb 2026 | Live-in described on a Cera campaign page | No family from-price on the pages we opened |
| 9 | Consultus Care and Nursing | 55 | Good | Report published 20 Feb 2019 | Managed live-in from £1,603 a week | Inspection more than four years old; ranks itself first on its own list |
Checked 31 October 2026. Scores follow how we rank agencies. Match With Care is not in this table.
1. Trinity Homecare (Worcester Park) · 110
Why it ranks here. CQC location 1-1864053896 at 1-15 Central Road, Worcester Park, is Outstanding, report published 9 October 2025. Safe is Good. Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led are Outstanding. Dementia is listed. The assessment ran from 11 to 27 August 2025 and counted 246 people receiving personal care. The live-in page (reviewed 19 October 2026) publishes live-in from £1,694 a week and says the service runs across mainland England.
Where it falls short. The registered office is in Worcester Park. A family outside south-west London is still buying from that one CQC record.
2. Home Instead Chichester & Bognor Regis · 105
Why it ranks here. CQC location 1-2366565374 at Madgwick Lane, Westhampnett, is Outstanding in all five domains, report published 23 September 2026. Dementia is listed. The assessment ran from 18 June to 20 July 2026. CQC said the agency was supporting 61 people with a regulated activity. The Chichester live-in page describes a Care Professional sharing the home. That is the live-in bonus.
Where it falls short. No weekly or hourly from-price on the pages we opened, so the price bonus is zero. West Sussex Care Limited runs this franchise. It is not a score for Home Instead in Manchester or Glasgow.
Sources: CQC, Chichester live-in.
3. Bluebird Care (Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea) · 105
Why it ranks here. CQC location 1-2120838566 at 77 Ashmill Street, London NW1, is Outstanding, report published 17 April 2026. Safe is Good. The other four domains are Outstanding. Dementia is listed. The provider on the CQC page is Zocalo Limited. The Westminster and City of London site lists live-in care, including for couples.
Where it falls short. No from-price on the pages we opened. Home Instead's Chichester report is newer, which is why Bluebird sits third on the same 105.
Sources: CQC, local site.
4. Unique Senior Care · 95
Why it ranks here. Unique Care on comparison pages is Unique Senior Care in the CQC register. CQC location 1-7601685405 in Knowle, Solihull, is Outstanding, report published 27 August 2021. CQC last reviewed the information on 6 July 2023 and did not reassess. Dementia is listed. The costs page (updated 7 October 2026) publishes live-in from £265 a day, or £1,855 a week, and £330 a day for a couple.
Where it falls short. The inspection is more than four years old. That 15-point penalty is the gap to Trinity.
5. The Good Care Group · 95
Why it ranks here. CQC location 1-1489174477 at Portsoken House, Minories, is Outstanding in all five domains, report published 12 April 2019. CQC reviewed the data on 6 July 2023 and did not reassess. Dementia is listed. The live-in page publishes live-in from £256 a day.
Where it falls short. The inspection is older than Unique's. Unique takes the 95 tie on date.
6. Helping Hands (Cambridge) · 70
Why it ranks here. CQC location 1-4632718410 at 124 Wulfstan Way, Cambridge, is Good, report published 2 June 2026, after an assessment from 10 April to 7 May 2026. CQC's inspection summary said 63 people were receiving personal care. Dementia is listed. The provider is Midshires Care Limited. The home care costs page publishes visiting care from £32.40 an hour, plus a £4.50 call-out, and live-in from £1,675 a week. The live-in costs page (reviewed 17 April 2026) restates £1,675 for one person and £2,125 for a couple.
Remember the NHS £15 to £30 an hour from the top? That is the band the NHS still prints. Helping Hands visiting, on the page we opened today, starts at £32.40 plus the call-out.
Where it falls short. Good starts 40 points behind Outstanding. We did not find a current Outstanding location for Midshires Care Limited in this round.
Sources: CQC, home care costs, live-in costs.
7. Avelon Live-in Care · 70
Why it ranks here. CQC location 1-3176735131 is now named Avelon Live-in Care, at Chartwell House, 183 Lynchford Road, Farnborough. Good, report published 26 May 2023. Dementia is listed. The provider on the CQC page is Avelon Live-in Care Limited. The Promedica24 live-in URL now serves Avelon pages and publishes managed live-in from £1,295 a week. CareConnect, described there as self-managed, starts at £1,000; that arm is not what we scored.
Where it falls short. The inspection is older than Helping Hands Cambridge, which is why 70 loses the tie. Consultus's 2 June 2026 listicle still names Promedica24. The CQC record we opened today does not.
Sources: CQC, live-in URL.
8. Cera (Wiltshire) · 65
Why it ranks here. CQC location 1-3909503976 at Prince Maurice Court, Devizes, is Cera - Wiltshire, run by Cera Care Operations Limited. Good in all five domains, report published 25 February 2026. Dementia is listed. The Cera live-in campaign page still describes a fully managed live-in service and says care can start in 48 hours. That is the live-in bonus.
Where it falls short. The Cera homepage we opened today branded as Home Healthcare Connected. No family from-price on the pages we opened, so the price bonus is zero.
Sources: CQC, live-in campaign.
9. Consultus Care and Nursing · 55
Why it ranks here. CQC location 1-120788654 at 4 London Road, Tonbridge, is Good, report published 20 February 2019. CQC reviewed the data on 6 July 2023 and did not reassess. Dementia is listed. The costs page publishes managed live-in from £1,603 a week, and introductory live-in from £1,092 a week. We scored the managed figure; that is the CQC-regulated arm.
Where it falls short. The inspection is more than four years old. Introductory care from £1,092 is not CQC-regulated. On 2 June 2026 Consultus still put itself first on its own best-agencies page.
Sources: CQC, costs, own ranking.
Best-for picks from the same scores
- Highest score in this national set: Trinity Homecare (Worcester Park), 110, because the Outstanding is recent and a weekly from-price is on the live-in page.
- Most recently inspected Outstanding: Home Instead Chichester & Bognor Regis, report published 23 September 2026.
- Lowest website-checked live-in from-price: Avelon managed live-in, from £1,295 a week. Consultus managed prints from £1,603. Helping Hands prints from £1,675. Trinity publishes from £1,694. Unique publishes from £1,855 a week, or £265 a day. The Good Care Group publishes from £256 a day.
If you want an introductory platform instead of a CQC-inspected agency, that is a different list: best live-in care platforms in the UK. Related: how much home care costs per hour and how much live-in care costs.
Match With Care. Our service. Not CQC-registered, different model. Best for choosing and paying your carer directly. We introduce self-employed carers; you pick the person and you direct day-to-day care. See home care platforms.
Consultus is still first on its own page. The Tonbridge report is still 20 February 2019.
We run Match With Care as an introductory care marketplace, not a CQC-registered agency. If you want us to introduce a vetted self-employed carer, see who is available. We will tell you the 15% fee before you choose.
Frequently asked
questions
On our 31 October 2026 check of nine CQC-registered locations, Trinity Homecare (Worcester Park) led on 110, then Home Instead Chichester & Bognor Regis and Bluebird Care (Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea) on 105. Rank is a score from the published method, not a recommendation to switch, and not an unqualified best-in-the-UK claim.
Yes. This list only scores CQC-registered homecare locations with a published Outstanding, Good or Requires improvement rating. Introductory platforms such as Elder, Curam and Match With Care are a different model and sit outside this table.
No. We run Match With Care. We are an introductory care marketplace, not CQC-registered as a care provider, so we are not scored in this agency list. The labelled box below the ranking explains the different model and links to home care platforms.
The NHS still puts help at home from a paid carer at about £15 to £30 an hour. Age UK (updated 29 October 2026) puts privately arranged care at home around £25 an hour. Website-checked from-prices on 31 October 2026 included Helping Hands visiting from £32.40 an hour plus a £4.50 call-out, live-in from £1,675 a week, Avelon managed live-in from £1,295 a week, Consultus managed live-in from £1,603 a week, Trinity from £1,694 a week, Unique from £1,855 a week or £265 a day, and The Good Care Group from £256 a day. Home Instead Chichester, Bluebird Westminster and Cera Wiltshire did not publish a family from-price on the pages we opened.
Age UK (updated 18 February 2026) still points families at registered homecare agencies, or at arranging a private carer themselves. If savings sit above £23,250, Age UK says the council will not help with care costs. Ask your local authority for a care needs assessment. Ask your relative's GP about clinical needs; we do not give medical advice.
Sources
5 sourcesAge UK
View source“Homecare: how to find the care you need at home”
2026
NHS
View source“Help at home from a paid carer”
2024
Age UK
View source“How much does care cost?”
2026
Care Quality Commission
View source“What is registration?”
2025
GOV.UK
View source“Attendance Allowance: what you'll get”
2026
