We live in a society that tends to regard care as a resource that is \u2018provided\u2019, either for \u201cfree\u201d[1]<\/a> or by being directly \u2018bought and sold as a commodity\u2019 (Dowling, 2021, p. 29). In this blog post, we focus on care homes, which are institutions that provide accommodation, food, activities, and varying levels of personal care in exchange for money. This sector has become increasingly commercialised over recent decades and now, approximately 87% of care homes are run by for-profit companies, with 10% run by charities and 3% by local authorities or the NHS (carehome.co.uk, March 2026).\u00a0This shift is important because for-profit care tends to be associated with more instability, lower quality care and worse working conditions for staff (including less training, a higher staff turnover and lower pay (Blakeley and Quilter-Pinner, 2019; Corlet Walker et al., 2022; Dowling, 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Question: What is the average cost of a care home in England in 2026?<\/strong> In this blog post, we consider the websites of the two largest UK for-profit care home chain providers: HC-One and Barchester Healthcare. Both run over 200 care homes that offer residential, dementia and nursing care. Both are owned by investment firms and overall,have Care Quality Commission evaluations that are comparable to the national average. Yet, both have also been in the news for operating homes that provide inadequate care (e.g., understaffing, inadequate training and poor safety; Gordon-Farleigh and Briant, 2023; Shepka, 2023) and there was even a BBC Panorama investigation of the financial structure of HC-One (Melley and Holt, 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re interested in exploring how these two companies represent their care homes, the people living\/working in them and potential customers on their websites, alongside asking the related question: what is \u2018care\u2019 shown to be? Our analysis is based on the websites in February 2024 and if you\u2019d like to read a more detailed discussion of this topic, you can read our chapter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The openings of the two websites are shown below for comparison:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Overall, we found that the companies branded their care homes very differently. HC-One draws on idealised ideas of \u2018family\u2019 and the \u2018family home as the optimum care location\u2019, which, interestingly (and perhaps of no surprise to readers) is \u2018the linguistic and ideational root of the term \u201ccare home\u201d\u2019 (Daly, 2023, p. 797). In contrast, Barchester reimagines the institutional care home as a desirable destination for people looking to enjoy older age, much like a luxury hotel. In many ways, modern care homes are like hotels \u2013 customers pay for their own room alongside access to communal spaces, catering and activities that are run by a company \u2013 and paying more will usually get a better service. This difference is exemplified by their catering pages, with HC-One calling it \u2018the heart of the home\u2019 while Barchester speaks of its \u2018hospitality services\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But whether branded more as a \u201chome\u201d or \u201chotel\u201d, both companies seek to persuade potential clients that their product of institutional care is worth buying. They both associate good care with person-centred care (which is legally required in the UK) and focus on relationships between staff and residents, while backgrounding the business side. When the financial aspect is mentioned, it may even be reframed as being for the customer\u2019s benefit rather than the company\u2019s. For example, in the booklet, Paying to Live in a Care Home<\/em>, Barchester state that \u2018We will discuss with you the financial aspects and we will ask you to provide evidence of two years\u2019 funding so that you can feel comfortable on this point<\/em>\u2019 (my emphasis).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Concerningly, although the two websites emphasise that they value and support residents\u2019 individual identities and preferences, the (prospective) residents are noticeably absent in these websites, both as speakers and as addressees. Residents are often discussed in the third person \u2013 for example, Barchester writes: \u2018Imagine a little peace of mind\u2026 with the reassurance that your loved one<\/em> is surrounded by caring people who value them<\/em> for the unique person that they<\/em> are\u2019 (my emphasis). Although the involvement of the person (wherever possible) is central to person-centred care, at multiple points on the websites, prospective residents are ignored and other people are addressed, which implicitly removes prospective residents from the conversation about their own future. Given that marketing materials tend to present an idealised picture, this exclusion is especially concerning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, staff at these care homes risk being seen as instruments that deliver<\/em> person-centred care rather than as dignified persons in their own right. They are often incorporated within the broader \u2018we\u2019 of the company and if they are described, they are idealised as \u2018caring, warm-hearted and jolly people who have an affectionate understanding of our Residents and their individual needs\u2019 (HC-One). Of course, these websites are aiming to advertise the care home providers but taken more broadly, it is important to recognise that such representations can be detrimental to staff wellbeing and normalise exploitative working conditions, such as regularly providing unpaid labour, forcing emotional performances (e.g., smiling regardless) and not challenging the low pay that is rife in the sector (Johnson, 2015, pp. 118\u20139).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking at care provider websites, then, offers a useful insight into how companies choose to present their care homes, staff, residents and the very notion of \u2018care\u2019. Communicative choices can reflect but also influence how care is understood and carried out, making them important to look at as part of better understanding, questioning and improving current practices surrounding \u2018care\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What do you think is missing from these websites? What would you like to see?<\/p>\n\n\n\n [1]<\/a> We use scare quotes around \u201cfree\u201d since unpaid care is still costed \u2013 for instance, the economic contribution of unpaid carers in England and Wales has been estimated to be \u00a3162 billion annually (Petrillo and Bennett, 2023).<\/p>\n\n\n\n ANSWER:<\/strong> The answer is C. It costs \u00a31,000 to \u00a31,800 per week on average for a place in a care home in England in 2026. References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Blakeley, G. and Quilter-Pinner, H. (2019) Who Cares? The Financialisation of Adult Social Care<\/em>. London: Institute for Public Policy Research. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n carehome.co.uk (March 2026). Caring Britain: how the care home landscape is changing<\/em>. https:\/\/www.carehome.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/Caring-Britain-How-the-care-home-landscape-is-changing-report.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Care Home Guide UK (March 2026). Care Home Costs UK 2026<\/em> https:\/\/www.carehomeguide.uk\/guides\/care-home-costs<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Corlet Walker, C. et al. (2022) Held to ransom: What happens when investment firms take over UK care homes. 35. Guildford: Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity. https:\/\/cusp.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/UNISON-CUSP-report-final.pdf<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Daly, M. (2023) \u2018Care Workers in English Care Homes: Managing Commodification, Motivations, and Caring Ideals\u2019, Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 30(3), pp. 795 817. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/sp\/jxad012<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dowling, E. (2021) The Care Crisis: What Caused It and How Can We End It?<\/em> London: Verso. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Gordon-Farleigh, N. and Briant, N. (2023) \u2018Northampton: Care home rated inadequate by inspectors over training\u2019, BBC News. https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-northamptonshire 65756483<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson, E.K. (2015) \u2018The business of care: the moral labour of care workers\u2019, Sociology of Health & Illness, 37(1), pp. 112\u2013126. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/1467-9566.12184<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Melley, J. and Holt, A. (2021) \u2018Care homes: Following the money trail\u2019, BBC News. https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-59504521<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Petrillo, M. and Bennett, M. (2023) Valuing Carers 2021: England and Wales. London: Carers UK. https:\/\/www.carersuk.org\/media\/2d5le03c\/valuing-carers-report.pdf<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A. \u00a3500 to \u00a3850 per week
B. \u00a3900 to \u00a31,600 per week
C. \u00a31,000 to \u00a31,800 per week
Answer at the end of the blog post.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/public-discourses-of-dementia\/files\/2026\/09\/image.png\")
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Source: Care Home Guide UK (March 2026). Care Home Costs UK 2026<\/em> https:\/\/www.carehomeguide.uk\/guides\/care-home-costs<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n