Is Now a Good Time to Buy a Home Care Franchise in the UK?

For the right person, now could be a good time to buy a home care franchise, with demand for support at home continuing to grow. But demand alone does not build a successful care business. You still need the right territory, enough working capital and a strong team around you.

A care business suits someone who wants to build a lasting local business and lead people well. It will not suit someone looking for passive income or a quick return. This article looks at why home care continues to offer a strong business opportunity, from rising demand and regular customer needs to the chance to build a trusted local service. The real opportunity lies in meeting that demand with safe, reliable care and a business built to last.

Why is demand for home care growing?

Home care already helps hundreds of thousands of people stay safe and independent in familiar surroundings. This includes older people, disabled adults and those living with long term conditions.

The wider home care and supported living market is now worth more than £15 billion a year. It supports about 915,000 adults in England alone, while independent providers supply more than 95% of these services, according to the latest LaingBuisson market analysis.

The number of people who may need care will also rise. The Office for National Statistics expects the number of people aged 85 and over in the UK to grow from 1.75 million in 2024 to 3.6 million by 2049.

The latest Skills for Care workforce report expects England’s population aged 65 and over to grow by 27% between 2025 and 2040. If the workforce grows at the same rate, the sector may need another 470,000 posts.

Behind those figures are people who want choice over where and how they live. Home holds their routines, memories and sense of independence. The NHS and local authorities also want more care delivered closer to home.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) saw the number of registered home care services rise by 11% in one year. Providers also delivered more than 47.5 million hours of home care between January and March 2025. That was over 5% more than during the same period in 2024. The CQC State of Care report sets out these changes.

More providers have entered the market, but many remain very small. CQC’s fee data found that services supporting four people or fewer made up more than 28% of the market in April 2025. That creates room for providers with the people, systems and local presence to grow beyond their first few customers.

Is home care an easy market to enter?

The demand for home care creates a strong opportunity, but entering the market successfully requires careful planning. A provider cannot accept more care than its team can deliver safely, so recruitment and team development set the pace of growth. Skills for Care recorded a 9.9% vacancy rate across regulated non residential care services during 2024/25, while care worker turnover reached 29%.

This is where the support of a franchise can make a real difference. Caremark Franchise Owners benefit from an established operating model and guidance to help them recruit, train and retain the right people. Strong owners make recruitment and culture central to the business. They create workplaces where care professionals feel respected and able to progress. With Caremark’s support, Franchise Owners across the UK are building teams that can deliver safe, consistent and compassionate care.

Pricing also needs close attention. Travel time, mileage, training, supervision and office support all cost money, even when a commissioner only pays for time spent with a customer. It is for this reason that a healthy home care business needs the right work, not just more work. Owners must understand local fees, private demand, travel distances and how many hours they can group in each area. Caremark helps Franchise Owners make these decisions with established systems, financial guidance and experience drawn from across the network. This allows you to focus on building a sustainable local business rather than working everything out alone.

Regulation brings another important responsibility. In England, you must register with CQC before you provide regulated personal care, and the assessment can take several months. For someone starting independently, these requirements can feel complex. As a Caremark Franchise Owner, you receive guidance through registration, along with support on policies, quality standards, operations and compliance. Caremark cannot remove the responsibility that comes with running a regulated care business, but it gives you a proven framework and experienced people to help you meet it with confidence.

These challenges do not remove the opportunity. They show why knowledge, preparation and support matter when entering the home care market.

Why choose a home care franchise instead of starting alone?

Taken together, the benefits covered above can make franchising a more structured route into home care than starting alone. But deciding to take the franchise route is only one part of the decision. Choosing the right franchisor matters just as much. Its values, model and approach need to suit you and the business you want to build.

With Caremark, you lead your own local business while drawing on more than 20 years of home care experience. Our network includes more than 150 offices across the UK and Ireland. Together, our UK offices deliver more than 140,000 hours of care each week and support about 8,600 customers.

You do not need a background in care to become a Caremark Franchise Owner. Many owners join us after careers in management, finance, operations, law or technology. Your role is to build the business, lead your team and create trusted local relationships.

We teach you the Caremark model through an eight day induction. You then receive guidance across quality, operations, recruitment, marketing, finance and technology. A dedicated Regional Support Manager and Quality Manager work alongside you as your business grows. Find out more about Caremark’s franchise training and support.

Who is the opportunity right for?

Care experience can help, but leadership matters more for a Franchise Owner. You need to make clear decisions, bring out the best in people and stay close to the standards within your service. You also need patience. A home care franchise grows through small actions. You recruit one good person, win one family’s trust and build one local relationship at a time. Systems cannot replace your presence.

The reward goes beyond money. You create jobs, help families and build a service that people may need during their hardest moments. That purpose attracts many Caremark Franchise Owners. Our Franchise Owner stories show how people from different backgrounds have built their businesses. You can also compare the chance to build in a new Caremark territory with our available franchise resales.

So, is now a good time to buy a home care franchise?

Yes, for someone who wants to build an active, long term business and understands the responsibility that comes with it.

More people will need support at home, and more families will seek a provider they can trust. Recruitment, regulation and costs will still test every owner, but the right support can help.

Caremark gives you an established model, specialist guidance and more than two decades of experience. You lead the local business, but you do not have to find every answer alone.

For those ready to build this kind of business, explore the Caremark home care franchise opportunity or speak to our franchise team about the opportunities available.