The headline
In the year to June 2026 there were 379 changes of owner among England's care homes for older people, equal to about 3.3% of the 11,655 registered with CQC. The median owner is 58, and 45.1% of owners are 60 or over.
changes of owner in the last twelve months Estimate
of registered homes, the changes of owner in a year as a share of the market Estimate
of changes of owner in the last year were sales of the company, which do not show on the CQC register Estimate
median asking multiple of annual profit, freehold care homes Our data
Sources: the Care Quality Commission register of active and closed registrations, 1 September 2026; Companies House register of people with significant control, as at 1 October 2026; Stone & Co Deal Radar. Stone & Co analysis.
What businesses are asking
Asking multiples by size of business, month by month
The median asking price divided by annual profit (EBITDA), for businesses on the market, grouped by how much profit they make.
EBITDA is roughly the profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. It is the figure the broker states, unaudited and often adjusted.
Of the sizes shown, the smallest freehold homes ask the most, 9.3 times profit for £100k to £200k, probably because the building makes up most of the price. The multiple is lowest, 6.2 times, between £200k and £500k of profit, then rises to 7.3 times above £500k, possibly a premium for scale, though that group is small. Leasehold homes, sold without the building and with rent already taken out of profit, ask a median of 2.6 times (8 listings, too few to rely on yet).
Each bar is the median for businesses of that size on the market this month, from our own daily record of businesses for sale. Once we hold three months of figures this becomes a monthly line. A size is only shown once at least eight businesses of that size publish the figures it needs.
Source: Stone & Co Deal Radar, our daily record of care businesses advertised for sale by UK brokers and marketplaces. These are asking prices, not completed prices. A month is plotted as real only when a size band has at least eight listings stating a price and the profit or turnover it is measured against.
Changes of owner
How many are changing hands
In the last four quarters, 230 homes were taken over by a buyer who registered them with CQC in its own name, and 149 companies running homes were sold. A company sale counts once however many homes the company runs. Numbered markers show events that changed the cost of running a care home, for context, not as a cause.
Care homes change hands both ways: 40% of the changes of owner in the last three years were sales of the company, against more than 90% for home care agencies. Buyers of care homes often take the property and the business together and register the home with CQC themselves, while buying the company keeps the existing registration and rating.
- 1Nov 2023 CQC starts its new single assessment framework, and inspections slow
- 2Mar 2024 Overseas care workers can no longer bring dependants
- 3Apr 2024 National Living Wage rises 9.8% to £11.44
- 4Apr 2025 Employer National Insurance rises from 13.8% to 15%, and the National Living Wage to £12.21
- 5Jul 2025 Recruitment of care workers from overseas closes
- 6Apr 2026 National Living Wage rises to £12.71 and Statutory Sick Pay becomes payable from day one
See these figures as a table
| Quarter | Re-registered by buyer | Company sold | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 Q4 | 61 | 34 | 95 |
| 2024 Q1 | 84 | 36 | 120 |
| 2024 Q2 | 56 | 30 | 86 |
| 2024 Q3 | 51 | 39 | 90 |
| 2024 Q4 | 67 | 50 | 117 |
| 2025 Q1 | 45 | 37 | 82 |
| 2025 Q2 | 73 | 38 | 111 |
| 2025 Q3 | 48 | 49 | 97 |
| 2025 Q4 | 72 | 35 | 107 |
| 2026 Q1 | 55 | 33 | 88 |
| 2026 Q2 | 55 | 32 | 87 |
Sources: the Care Quality Commission register of active and closed registrations, 1 September 2026 (businesses re-registered by a new owner); Companies House register of people with significant control, as at 1 October 2026 (sales of the company). Stone & Co analysis.
What they sell for
Asking prices, and what completed sales show
Asking price Our data
Freehold care homes for sale in October 2026, as a multiple of annual profit. Middle half 5.9x to 9.6x, 37 listings.
Asking price Our data
Leasehold care homes for sale in October 2026, as a multiple of annual profit. Middle half 2.0x to 4.3x, 8 listings.
Completed sales Estimate
Per registered bed, the median price on the Land Registry title when a home was sold to a new operator together with its freehold, 73 sales since September 2023. Middle half £34k to £66k. Company buyers only, prices under £25k a bed and portfolio deals left out. The title price is usually the property share of the deal, so it may not include the whole business.
Sources: asking prices from Stone & Co Deal Radar, October 2026. Completed sales: information produced by HM Land Registry. © Crown copyright 2026 (corporate and overseas ownership data, June 2026), matched to the CQC register by Stone & Co.
Who owns them
The people behind the businesses
median owner age, half are older and half younger Estimate
of owners are 60 or over Estimate
of owners are under 40 Estimate
of owner-run businesses where every registered owner is 60 or over Estimate
Owners by age Estimate
People registered at Companies House as having significant control (25% or more) of owner-run businesses, directly or through holding companies, as at 1 October 2026, counted once. Age is worked out from month and year of birth. Owners with smaller stakes are not on the register, so younger family co-owners are likely to be under-counted. Charities, councils, the NHS and larger groups are left out. The share of businesses where every owner is 60 or over counts only businesses whose registered owners hold at least three-quarters of the shares.
Source: Companies House register of people with significant control, as at 1 October 2026, matched to the Care Quality Commission register of active and closed registrations, 1 September 2026.
How long current owners have held it Estimate
Companies House began recording owners in April 2016, so "before 2017" includes everyone who owned the business before then.
Source: Companies House register of people with significant control, as at 1 October 2026.
How the businesses are owned Estimate
| How the business is owned | Businesses | Share of all businesses |
|---|---|---|
| Owned by one or more people, directly | 2,347 | 37% |
| Owned by people through a holding company | 1,297 | 21% |
| Owned by a family or founder through several companies | 626 | 10% |
| Part of a larger group, or investor-backed | 934 | 15% |
| Run by a sole trader or partnership | 416 | 7% |
| Other | 696 | 11% |
| All businesses | 6,316 | 100% |
A business here is the company, partnership or person registered with CQC to run the care homes. "Part of a larger group" means an investment fund, a listed company or no individual at the top of the ownership chain, or ten or more care homes under one owner. "Other" covers businesses held in a trust, charities and not-for-profit companies, councils and the NHS, companies whose owners are not on the public register and a small number that fit none of these. Ownership as at 1 October 2026. Shares may not add to exactly 100% because of rounding.
Sources: Companies House register of people with significant control, as at 1 October 2026; Companies House company records (company type); the Care Quality Commission register of active and closed registrations, 1 September 2026. Stone & Co analysis.
The homes themselves
Size, nursing and dementia care
beds in the typical home Confirmed
of homes provide nursing care Confirmed
are registered to care for people living with dementia Confirmed
Homes by number of beds
Source: the Care Quality Commission register of active registrations, 1 September 2026. Beds are the number each home is registered for. Nursing and dementia are the service types and specialisms each home is registered for.
What councils pay for a care home place
a week paid by councils in the South West, against £985 across England
rise on the year before
councils in the region
Your region against other benchmarks
| Benchmark | Per week | Source |
|---|---|---|
| South West average, councils Confirmed | £1,048 | Department of Health and Social Care |
| England average, councils Confirmed | £985 | Department of Health and Social Care |
| What self-funding residents typically pay, UK (2024-25 estimate) Estimate | £1,278 | LaingBuisson, February 2025 |
See every council in the region
| Council | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bath and North East Somerset | £1,078 | £1,118 | 3.7% |
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | £1,173 | £1,220 | 4.0% |
| Bristol, City of | £1,073 | £1,120 | 4.4% |
| Cornwall | £1,097 | £1,123 | 2.4% |
| Devon | £1,054 | £1,110 | 5.3% |
| Dorset | £1,126 | £1,156 | 2.7% |
| Gloucestershire | £887 | £923 | 4.1% |
| North Somerset | £683 | £748 | 9.5% |
| Plymouth Being checked | £879 | £979 | 11.4% |
| Somerset Being checked | £912 | £805 | -11.7% |
| South Gloucestershire | £1,253 | £1,326 | 5.8% |
| Swindon | £792 | £832 | 5.1% |
| Torbay | £1,129 | £1,163 | 3.0% |
| Wiltshire | £1,025 | £1,051 | 2.5% |
| South West average | £1,011 | £1,048 | 3.7% |
Each council's figure is what it told the Department of Health and Social Care it pays for a residential care home place for someone over 65 in 2025-26, published August 2025. Region and England figures are the simple average of the councils in each, so every council counts equally whatever its size. Rates run from £688 in Salford to £1,560 in Hounslow. Nursing places cost the average council £1,080 a week, before the NHS adds its own weekly contribution for each nursing resident.
Sources: Department of Health and Social Care, Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund provider fee returns 2025-26, contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0; other benchmarks as named in the table.
Our view
Headwinds and tailwinds
Our reading of the market behind these figures. Demand for good homes is strong and buyers are competing for them, while the cost of running a home keeps climbing faster than most councils are prepared to pay. Owners with a high share of private residents are in the strongest position, and homes that depend on council placements are the ones buyers price most carefully.
Tailwinds
- The number of people aged 85 and over in the UK is projected to double from 1.75 million in 2024 to 3.6 million by 2049.Office for National Statistics, April 2026
- Buyers are competing for homes: on the sales Christie & Co handled, there were more than five offers per sale on average and sellers achieved 97% of their asking price in the first half of 2026, up from 95% in 2025.Christie & Co Care Market Review, September 2026
- Occupancy has recovered, with 69% of providers reporting occupancy of 90% or more in 2026.Christie & Co, September 2026
- New homes are only replacing old ones: more than 30,000 beds opened between 2020 and 2025 while about 29,000 were taken out of use, and Savills estimates the UK will need 139,000 more beds by 2036.Savills Care Home Development Report, July 2026
- Operators want to grow by buying, with 52% of those surveyed planning to buy another home in the next twelve months.Christie & Co, September 2026
Headwinds
- The National Living Wage rose 4.1% to £12.71 an hour in April 2026, a year after employer National Insurance went up from 13.8% to 15%.UK Government
- Council fee rises are slowing, with average 2026-27 increases of 4.3% to 5.1%, while councils overspent their adult social care budgets by £715m in 2025-26.Christie & Co, September 2026; ADASS Spring Survey, July 2026
- Recruitment from overseas closed in July 2025, and care workers arriving from abroad fell to about 30,000 in 2025-26 from 105,000 two years earlier.Skills for Care, June 2026
- Borrowing is not getting cheaper this year: the Bank of England held its rate at 3.75% in September 2026, with three of its nine committee members voting to raise it.Bank of England, September 2026
- The first Fair Pay Agreement for care workers is expected in April 2028 with £500m set aside for 2028-29, and what it will cost providers is not yet known.Department of Health and Social Care, via RCN, August 2026
Sources are named under each point. Where a figure comes from a third-party report, we give the publisher and date and paraphrase it rather than reproduce it.
Openings and closures
Is the market growing or shrinking
In the last four quarters 239 new homes registered and 227 closed, a net gain of 12. Registrations that closed and reopened because the business changed owner are left out. Groups moving five or more services onto a new registration at once are left out too. Estimate
- 1Nov 2023 CQC starts its new single assessment framework, and inspections slow
- 2Mar 2024 Overseas care workers can no longer bring dependants
- 3Apr 2024 National Living Wage rises 9.8% to £11.44
- 4Apr 2025 Employer National Insurance rises from 13.8% to 15%, and the National Living Wage to £12.21
- 5Jul 2025 Recruitment of care workers from overseas closes
- 6Apr 2026 National Living Wage rises to £12.71 and Statutory Sick Pay becomes payable from day one
See these figures as a table
| Quarter | Opened | Closed | Net |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 Q4 | 48 | 52 | -4 |
| 2024 Q1 | 37 | 69 | -32 |
| 2024 Q2 | 40 | 39 | 1 |
| 2024 Q3 | 56 | 50 | 6 |
| 2024 Q4 | 51 | 80 | -29 |
| 2025 Q1 | 59 | 55 | 4 |
| 2025 Q2 | 50 | 41 | 9 |
| 2025 Q3 | 61 | 61 | 0 |
| 2025 Q4 | 63 | 52 | 11 |
| 2026 Q1 | 56 | 57 | -1 |
| 2026 Q2 | 59 | 57 | 2 |
Source: the Care Quality Commission register of active and closed registrations, 1 September 2026. Registrations that closed and reopened because the business changed owner are left out, as are batches of five or more re-registrations by one provider in a quarter, which are paperwork rather than real openings or closures.
Your area
The market where you are
care homes for older people registered in the South West
changes of owner in the last three years
a year on average, changes of owner as a share of registered homes, against 3.4% across England
Every region side by side Estimate
| Region | Registered | Changes of owner, 3 years | Average a year, Sep 2023 to Sep 2026, % of registered | Average council rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 1,151 | 120 | 3.5% | £895 a week |
| East of England | 1,278 | 108 | 2.8% | £945 a week |
| London | 897 | 81 | 3.0% | £1,170 a week |
| North East | 595 | 61 | 3.4% | £893 a week |
| North West | 1,539 | 169 | 3.7% | £844 a week |
| South East | 2,208 | 201 | 3.0% | £1,090 a week |
| South West | 1,468 | 172 | 3.9% | £1,048 a week |
| West Midlands | 1,278 | 129 | 3.4% | £886 a week |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 1,161 | 124 | 3.6% | £872 a week |
| England | 11,655 | 1,196 | 3.4% | £985 a week |
The England row counts every care home and every change of owner, including 80 registrations and 31 changes of owner that cannot be placed in a region (mostly companies sold that no longer run a registered service), so the regions add up to slightly less than England.
Sources: the Care Quality Commission register of active and closed registrations, 1 September 2026 (services registered, by CQC region); Companies House register of people with significant control, as at 1 October 2026 (changes of owner); Department of Health and Social Care provider fee returns 2025-26, Open Government Licence v3.0 (council rates, simple average of the councils in each region). Stone & Co analysis.
Market structure
Independent owners still run most of it
By size of operator Confirmed
| Size of the owner | Care homes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Runs one home | 5,034 | 43% |
| Runs 2 to 5 homes | 2,783 | 24% |
| Runs 6 to 20 homes | 1,967 | 17% |
| Runs 21 or more homes | 1,871 | 16% |
Source: the Care Quality Commission register of active and closed registrations, 1 September 2026. Size is the number of care homes each registered provider runs.
By CQC rating Confirmed
| Latest CQC rating | Care homes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Outstanding | 442 | 4% |
| Good | 8,191 | 70% |
| Requires improvement | 1,950 | 17% |
| Inadequate | 90 | 1% |
| Not yet rated | 982 | 8% |
Source: the Care Quality Commission register of active and closed registrations, 1 September 2026. Latest published overall rating for each of the care homes.
Questions owners ask
Answers, with the figures behind them
In the twelve months to June 2026 there were 379 changes of owner among care homes for older people in England, equal to about 3.3% of the 11,655 homes registered with CQC. 39% of those changed hands through a sale of the company, which does not show on the CQC register. Source: Stone & Co Senior Residential Care Market Index.
We can only see asking prices, not final prices. Freehold care homes advertised for sale in October 2026 asked a median of 7.2 times annual profit (EBITDA), with the middle half between 5.9 and 9.6 times. Leasehold homes asked a median of 2.6 times, from only 8 listings.
The median owner of an English care home is 58, so half are older and half younger. 45.1% of owners are 60 or older and 9.0% are under 40. In 32.9% of owner-run care home businesses, every owner is 60 or over.
Of 6,316 businesses running care homes for older people, 37% are companies owned directly by individuals, 21% are owned through a holding company and 15% sit within larger groups or investor-backed structures.
The average council in England paid £985 a week for a residential care home place for someone over 65 in 2025-26, and £1,080 a week for nursing care before the NHS nursing contribution, up from £938 and £1,029 the year before. Rates ranged from £688 in Salford to £1,560 in Hounslow. Source: Department of Health and Social Care provider fee returns, simple average of every council.
43% of care homes for older people are run by an operator with a single home, and 16% by groups of 21 homes or more.
Where the figures come from
Sources
- The Care Quality Commission's register of every active and closed registration in England, 1 September 2026.
- Companies House records of who owns and runs each business, as at 1 October 2026.
- Our own daily record of care businesses advertised for sale by brokers and marketplaces across the UK.
- HM Land Registry corporate and overseas ownership data (June 2026), for prices paid on care home property. Information produced by HM Land Registry. © Crown copyright 2026.
- The Department of Health and Social Care's Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund provider fee returns, 2025-26, under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Published reports named under each headwind and tailwind: Christie & Co, Savills, ADASS, Skills for Care, the Office for National Statistics, the Bank of England and the Department of Health and Social Care.
How we count a change of owner
- Taken over and re-registered. A registration closes and the same care home reopens under a different provider at the same address within a few months. Re-registrations by the same owners, councils and charities moving homes between their own entities are left out.
- Company sold. Companies House shows an owner with 25% or more leaving and a new one arriving within 60 days, and the ultimate owners before and after are different. Restructures under the same owners and transfers between people sharing a surname are left out. A company sale counts once however many care homes it runs.
- Counted once. Where a company is sold and the buyer then re-registers its care homes, the deal is counted once, as a re-registration (17 such deals in the last three years).
- Limits. Owners can report changes to Companies House late, so the latest quarters may rise as filings arrive. Sales of a parent group above the operating company are not captured, and spouses with different surnames can be counted as a sale.
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Using these figures
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Source: Stone & Co, Senior Residential Care Market Index, stoneadvisory.co.uk
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