How many care homes in England? The largest council markets

There are 14,473 care homes in England registered with CQC, with 459,046 beds between them, on 1 October 2026. Kent is the largest council market, with 487 care homes and 14,824 beds. Hampshire is close behind with 14,182 beds, then Lancashire with 13,201. The ten largest councils hold 25% of England's 459,046 care home beds, and half of all beds sit in just 28 of the 153 council areas.

Beyond how many care homes in England there are in total, buyers and operators need to know where they are. This article ranks the largest markets by beds, by homes and by community services such as home care, then looks at how big the homes are, how concentrated the market is, and what size means for buyers and new operators. Kent, our flagship report, is the worked example throughout.

How many care homes are in England, and which councils have the most?

England has 14,473 care homes registered with CQC, with 459,046 beds between them, an average of 31.7 beds a home. These are care home statistics for England only; the UK position is explained further down. The largest markets are all big shire counties. 7 of the top ten are in the South East or East of England. The first city on the list is Birmingham, in 16th place.

Size does not tell you how well supplied an area is. Among the fifteen largest, Suffolk has the fewest beds for its older population (259 per 1,000 people aged 85+) and Lancashire the most (369). The England figure is 304. A big market with a low ratio has room for growth; a big market with a high ratio may already be well served.

The largest by number of homes

Ranked by homes, the list is similar but not identical. Kent again leads with 487, ahead of Hampshire (458) and Lancashire (418). East Sussex and Birmingham make the top twelve by homes but not by beds, because their homes are smaller than average. Hertfordshire and Staffordshire drop out, because their homes are larger.

How big are the homes?

Average home size varies more than you might expect. Across councils with at least 20 homes, the median is 31 beds a home. The smallest averages are in London and its suburbs: 8 of the ten smallest are London boroughs, led by Haringey (16 beds), Redbridge (18) and Lewisham (18). The largest averages include Bexley (48), Wandsworth (46) and Oxfordshire (46).

Average size partly reflects what kind of homes an area has. Homes for younger adults with learning disabilities are often small, so an area with many of them has a lower average. In Kent, 128 of the 213 homes with fewer than 20 beds are not registered for older people. Among the fifteen largest markets, Devon has the smallest homes (27.7 beds) and Suffolk the largest (39.5). Kent, at 30.4, is slightly below the England average of 31.7.

By region, homes are largest in the North East (35.9 beds) and smallest in London (27.7). London also has more community services than care homes, 2.2 for every home.

How concentrated is the market?

The ten largest councils hold 25% of beds and the twenty largest 41%. It takes 28 councils to reach half of all beds. The ten largest hold 25% of homes, almost the same as their share of beds. The biggest markets are big because they have many homes; their homes are close to average size.

The largest markets for community services

The CQC count of community services covers home care agencies, supported living services and similar services that visit people where they live. England has 15,655 of them. Here Essex leads with 494, ahead of Kent (442) and Hampshire (386). Big cities rank much higher here than for care homes: Birmingham is 4th. London as a region has 2,693 community services against 1,230 care homes.

For someone starting a home care agency, a large count is a sign of both demand and competition. Kent ranks 2nd with 442 services, of which 405 provide personal care at home.

Kent profile

Kent's 487 homes and 14,824 beds equal 33% of the 45,088 beds in its five neighbours combined (Medway, East Sussex, Surrey, Essex and West Sussex). Its 85+ population is 47,084, giving 315 beds per 1,000, close to the England figure of 304.

Kent is a market of many small homes and a smaller number of large ones. Of its homes, 213 (44%) have fewer than 20 beds, but they hold only 12% of beds. Many of these are homes for younger adults: only 85 of them are registered for older people. At the other end, 82 homes with 60 or more beds hold 42% of all beds.

Nursing is a large part of the market. Only 26% of homes (127) provide nursing care, but they hold 7,195 beds, 49% of Kent's total. Homes registered for dementia hold 10,701 beds.

Ownership is spread widely. 250 operators run Kent's care homes. The ten largest groups hold 29.5% of beds, and the 21 groups with five or more homes hold 37.6%. At the other end, 184 operators run a single home in Kent, and together they hold 43% of beds.

How many care homes are in the UK?

Every figure in this article covers England only. CQC registers care homes in England, and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own regulator: Care Inspectorate Wales, the Care Inspectorate in Scotland and RQIA in Northern Ireland. Their registers are kept separately and counted in different ways, so we do not add them to the England figure here.

If you need the number of care homes in the UK, start from England's 14,473 homes and 459,046 beds and add each nation's own published count, checking that each one counts care homes in the same way. England is by far the largest part of the UK care home market, so care home statistics for the UK are shaped mostly by the English figures above.

What a large market means

For a family looking for a place, a large market means more choice within a reasonable drive. For a buyer of a care home, it means more homes come up for sale, more comparable sales to judge a price against, and a deeper pool of staff. It also means more competition for residents and for the same nurses and care workers.

For a new operator, a large market can be easier to enter, because one new home is a small share of total supply and the council commissions at scale. The flip side is that large councils often have well established groups with several homes nearby, and new homes have to win residents from them.

How we worked this out

To count how many care homes in England there are, we took every active location registered with CQC on 1 October 2026 and assigned it to the council area it sits in. A care home is any location registered as a care home, with or without nursing; homes registered under two providers are counted once. Community services are locations registered for care in people's homes or similar services without beds. Average size is beds divided by homes. Beds per 1,000 aged 85+ uses the ONS 2022 based projection for 2026. Regional figures add up councils in each of England's nine regions. Kent size bands, nursing and ownership figures come from our Kent location file for the same date.