‘Encouraging’ rise in homecare services, as number of care homes falls, says regulator

There has been another significant and “encouraging” rise in the number of homecare services in England over the last year, according to a report by the care regulator.

In its annual State of Care report, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said another 700 agencies had been registered in the year to April, reaching more than 13,500, an increase of 60 per cent in the last decade.

At the same time, the number of care homes has fallen by 14 per cent, although that has come at the same time as more beds are being concentrated in large care homes, and recent increases in institutional investors buying care homes.

CQC data shows that, in the last two years, there has been a 5.8 per cent increase in the number of hours of homecare delivered by agencies.

The commission says in the report: “Enabling people to live more independent and supported lives in their own homes reflects the policy shift in local authorities that aims to commission more community services to support more people to stay in their own homes for longer, so the increases in care delivered in this model of care are encouraging.”

It added: “We are seeing an increase in the number of homecare hours delivered, which can lead to better experiences and outcomes for those able to access services – more people supported to live in their own homes and communities.”

But CQC also warns that the homecare market was “increasingly fragmented”, with a growing number of “very small services”, with an estimated 30 per cent of them providing care to four or fewer people in April 2026.

The commission said it was keen to discover how these changes in the homecare sector were impacting on people’s experiences.

The number of supported living services has also risen by more than 150 per cent in the last decade, from about 2,000 to about 5,000, says the report.

But the report says the number of adults receiving local authority-funded long-term social care at the end of 2024-25 was 25 per cent lower than it was 20 years earlier, falling from nearly 895,000 at the end of 2003-04 to just over 672,000 at the end of 2024-25.

And the report says that older adults are much more likely to receive care than working-age adults.

In 2024-25, nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of new requests from older adults received a short-term package of care, compared with eight per cent of requests from working-age adults.

And eight per cent of new requests from older adults received long-term care, compared with four per cent of those from working-age adults.

The report also warns of “persistent and localised inequality”, adding: “Where you live can make a big difference to the quality of care you might experience, especially for those living in relatively deprived places.”

And it warns of “unmet need across the system”, while “those who need care often rely on unpaid carers who provide billions of pounds’ worth of care every year”.

Seven out of 10 of the 3,783 care homes CQC has assessed since the start of 2024 have been rated as either good (67 per cent) or outstanding (three per cent), while the remaining care homes required improvement (27 per cent) or were providing an inadequate service (three per cent).

Eight in 10 of the 2,121 homecare services assessed have been rated as either good (76 per cent) or outstanding (four per cent), while 18 per cent were rated as requires improvement and two per cent as inadequate.

Of the 390 supported living services assessed since January 2024, 78 per cent were rated as either good (74 per cent) or outstanding (four per cent), while 19 per cent were rated as requires improvement, and two per cent as inadequate.

Chris Badger, CQC’s chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care, said: “Ten years ago, we warned that adult social care was approaching a tipping point.

“Successive governments have not resolved the issue of long-term funding for the sector.

“Now, this government’s renewed focus on social care offers an important opportunity for meaningful solutions in social care that improve outcomes across the whole health and care landscape – but only if reforms address workforce, funding, commissioning, prevention and inequalities together.”

Picture by Andrew Parsons/No 10 Downing Street