Care Home Regional Inequality UK 2026 — North vs South, London vs Rest

Regional analysis of care home availability and costs across England. How do the North, South, and London compare for care home provision, pricing, and access to dementia and nursing care?

Primary regional comparison — beds-led, age-adjusted

Active registered care-home beds per 100 residents aged 75+ by region, with nursing-only variant and average residential weekly cost. Regional rates are computed from summed beds over summed 75+ population, not averages of LA rates.

Region	Pop. 75+	Active beds	Beds /100 age 75+	Nursing /100 age 75+	Avg weekly cost
South East	881,605	92,580	10.5	5.9	£1,436
North East	257,982	26,757	10.4	5.3	£1,301
West Midlands	539,781	51,749	9.6	5.0	£1,382
Yorkshire & The Humber	516,608	49,423	9.6	3.8	£1,407
East Midlands	467,829	44,783	9.6	4.0	£1,375
East of England	605,628	56,077	9.3	4.0	£1,557
North West	692,177	62,709	9.1	4.6	£1,332
South West	653,296	54,789	8.4	4.1	£1,534
London	505,100	37,053	7.3	4.6	£1,400

Primary metric matches OHID Fingertips indicator 92490. Nursing variant matches 92493. Costs from NHS England ASC-FR.

Legacy secondary — home counts and /10k comparisons

Retained for continuity. /10k-65+ and /10k-total are dilute denominators relative to 75+ and treat every home as equivalent regardless of bed count.

Region	Population	Pop. 65+	Total homes	Homes /10k total	Homes /10k 65+	Dementia	Nursing	Avg weekly cost	Avg annual cost
South West	5,284,977	1,245,662	1,850	3.5	14.9	985	518	£1,530	£79,560
North East	2,185,856	443,116	738	3.4	16.7	474	277	£1,294	£67,288
South East	9,369,160	1,864,614	2,800	3	15	1,496	939	£1,436	£74,672
West Midlands	5,791,954	1,093,894	1,680	2.9	15.4	942	498	£1,375	£71,500
East Midlands	4,942,823	990,172	1,456	2.9	14.7	824	407	£1,375	£71,500
Yorkshire & Humberside	5,282,911	1,034,449	1,471	2.8	14.2	875	395	£1,390	£72,280
East	6,387,888	1,298,163	1,650	2.6	12.7	963	421	£1,557	£80,964
North West	7,484,588	1,458,882	1,866	2.5	12.8	1,101	622	£1,332	£69,264
London	8,815,600	1,123,600	1,285	1.5	11.4	595	392	£1,396	£72,592

Sorted by homes per 10,000 total population, descending (most homes first). The “Homes /10k 65+” column normalises supply against the over-65 resident population — the cohort that actually drives care-home demand. Costs from NHS England ASC-FR for residential care. CQC Care Directory for home counts. Population from ONS 2022 mid-year estimates.

Key findings

South West has the most care homes per capita (3.5 per 10,000 residents). London has the fewest (1.5 per 10,000 residents).
East has the highest average weekly cost (£1,557/week). North East has the lowest (£1,294/week).
The gap between them is £263/week (20%), or £13,676 per year.
The South West has 3.5 homes per 10,000 residents — 133% more than the London.

North vs South

The North (North East, North West, Yorkshire & The Humber) and South (London, South East, South West) represent contrasting care markets. This comparison shows average care home density and cost across each group.

Group	Avg homes per 10k	Avg weekly cost	Avg annual cost
North (NE, NW, Yorkshire)	3	£1,313	£68,276
South (London, SE, SW)	2.7	£1,454	£75,608

Averages computed from regional data. Homes per 10k is the mean across regions in each group. Weekly cost is the mean of regional averages.

London focus

London operates a distinct care market driven by high property costs, elevated staff wages, and population density. Here is how London compares to the rest of England on key metrics.

Metric	London	Rest of England avg
Homes per 10,000 residents	1.5	3
Avg weekly cost	£1,396	£1,411
Dementia specialist homes	595	958 (avg per region)
Nursing homes	392	510 (avg per region)

"Rest of England avg" is the mean across all non-London regions.

Local authority breakdown by region

Within each region, care home density varies considerably between local authorities. The tables below show the top 5 and bottom 5 LAs by homes per 10,000 residents within each region.

South West

Local authority	/10k total	/10k 65+	Total homes	Weekly cost
Highest density
Torbay	5.3	19.4	74	£1,219
North Somerset	4.2	17.6	95	£1,303
Devon	3.8	15.2	310	£2,211
Cornwall	3.5	13.6	199	£1,643
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	3.4	14.1	135	£1,458
Lowest density
Swindon	1.9	11.6	46	£1,396
Bath and North East Somerset	2.6	13.3	52	£1,561
South Gloucestershire	2.9	15.3	83	£1,855
Dorset	2.9	9.7	115	£1,770
Gloucestershire	3.1	13.8	199	£1,343

North East

Local authority	/10k total	/10k 65+	Total homes	Weekly cost
Highest density
Redcar and Cleveland	3.2	13.9	44	£1,134
Sunderland	3.1	15.5	87	£1,416
Northumberland	3	12.2	95	£1,245
Darlington	3	13.9	32	£1,000
Stockton-on-Tees	2.8	14.4	58	£1,154
Lowest density
North Tyneside	2	9.4	43	£1,220
South Tyneside	2.2	10.1	33	£1,067
Gateshead	2.5	12.8	50	£1,951
Newcastle upon Tyne	2.5	15.5	74	£1,386
Hartlepool	2.8	13.7	27	£1,166

South East

Local authority	/10k total	/10k 65+	Total homes	Weekly cost
Highest density
East Sussex	5.2	19.4	287	£1,691
Isle of Wight	4.5	15.4	63	£1,192
West Sussex	3.8	15.9	339	£1,617
Hampshire	3.4	15.5	471	£1,706
Surrey	3.2	15.6	379	£1,501
Lowest density
Slough	1	9.8	16	£1,327
Bracknell Forest	1.3	8.1	17	£1,511
Portsmouth	1.5	10	32	£1,067
Milton Keynes	1.7	11.8	49	£1,507
Reading	1.8	13.5	32	£1,259

West Midlands

Local authority	/10k total	/10k 65+	Total homes	Weekly cost
Highest density
Shropshire	3.6	14.3	115	£1,437
Stoke-on-Trent	3.3	17.7	84	£1,182
Staffordshire	3	13.7	267	£1,463
Warwickshire	3	14.2	175	£1,165
Worcestershire	2.9	13	177	£1,456
Lowest density
Coventry	1.9	13.4	71	£1,268
Telford and Wrekin	2	11.1	39	£1,542
Birmingham	2.4	17.3	279	£1,437
Walsall	2.5	13.8	72	£1,087
Wolverhampton	2.7	15.6	72	£1,265

East Midlands

Local authority	/10k total	/10k 65+	Total homes	Weekly cost
Highest density
Lincolnshire	3.7	14.7	288	£1,075
Nottinghamshire	3.3	15.5	278	£1,682
Derbyshire	3	13.6	245	£1,597
North Northamptonshire	3	16.4	113	£1,354
Derby	2.8	15.5	73	£1,133
Lowest density
Nottingham	2.3	21.5	79	£1,111
Leicestershire	2.3	10.9	162	£1,318
West Northamptonshire	2.4	13.8	106	£1,332
Rutland	2.7	10	11	£1,609
Leicester	2.7	22.1	101	£1,535

Yorkshire & Humberside

Local authority	/10k total	/10k 65+	Total homes	Weekly cost
Highest density
East Riding of Yorkshire	4.4	16.4	149	£1,659
North Lincolnshire	3.5	15.3	60	£885
North East Lincolnshire	3.5	16.2	56	£1,094
North Yorkshire	3.2	12.2	202	£2,419
Rotherham	3	15	80	£1,157
Lowest density
Bradford	1.9	12.4	106	£1,294
Sheffield	1.9	11.4	114	£1,167
Leeds	1.9	12.5	158	£1,314
York	2	10	42	£1,418
Calderdale	2.2	11.4	47	£1,204

East

Local authority	/10k total	/10k 65+	Total homes	Weekly cost
Highest density
Southend-on-Sea	4.6	24	86	£1,341
Bedford	3.8	22.5	75	£3,501
Norfolk	3.5	13.9	323	£1,288
Essex	2.7	13	404	£1,508
Suffolk	2.6	11.1	198	£1,311
Lowest density
Thurrock	1.5	11	27	£1,091
Luton	1.5	12.9	35	£1,254
Peterborough	1.9	11.7	40	£1,325
Cambridgeshire	2	10.4	139	£1,579
Central Bedfordshire	2.1	11.3	65	£1,489

North West

Local authority	/10k total	/10k 65+	Total homes	Weekly cost
Highest density
Blackpool	5.1	23.2	71	£967
Sefton	4	16.3	111	£1,039
Wirral	3.5	15.3	111	£886
Lancashire	3.4	15.9	421	£1,284
Cumberland	2.8	11.6	78	£1,583
Lowest density
Tameside	1.5	8.2	35	£1,392
Manchester	1.5	14.2	84	£1,078
Salford	1.6	10.8	43	£1,312
Knowsley	1.7	9.6	27	£1,292
Wigan	1.7	8.6	57	£1,348

London

Local authority	/10k total	/10k 65+	Total homes	Weekly cost
Highest density
Croydon	3.3	22.7	127	£1,421
Sutton	3.3	19.6	69	£1,231
Kingston upon Thames	2.6	17.3	44	£1,391
Enfield	2.5	18.3	82	£1,262
Redbridge	2.4	17.9	76	£1,290
Lowest density
Tower Hamlets	0.3	4.9	10	£1,415
Westminster	0.4	3.6	9	£1,591
Hackney	0.5	5.3	13	£1,246
Southwark	0.5	4.4	14	£1,190
Hammersmith and Fulham	0.6	5.4	11	£1,284

Frequently asked questions

Which region has the most care homes?

South West has the highest care home density at 3.5 homes per 10,000 residents, with 1,850 total CQC-registered care homes. London has the lowest density at 1.5 homes per 10,000 residents.

Is care lower-cost in the North?

The North (North East, North West, Yorkshire) has an average residential care cost of £1,313/week compared to £1,454/week in the South (London, South East, South West). Costs are influenced by local labour markets, property prices, and council funding levels.

Why is London different?

London has 1.5 care homes per 10,000 residents compared to an average of 3 across the rest of England. London's higher property costs, staff wages, and population density create a distinct care market with fewer homes per capita but higher fees.

All care costs Cost vs supply Care deserts Costs by region

How Much Does a Care Home Cost?

National averages, what's included, and how to reduce costs.

The Care Home Postcode Lottery

Why costs vary by 100% across England.

Who Pays for a Care Home?

Means test, council funding, NHS options.

Do I Have to Sell My House?

Property rules, DPAs, and alternatives.

Tools

Cost Calculator Self-Funding Guide Find a Care Home Press Pack

Data source: CQC Care Directory for care home counts, dementia specialist designations, and nursing home classifications. NHS England Adult Social Care Activity and Finance Report (ASC-FR) for residential care unit costs. Population data from ONS mid-year estimates. Published under the Open Government Licence v3.0.