Home care in Scotland
There are 2398 home care services in Scotland registered with the Care Inspectorate. 2051 of them carry published Care Inspectorate grades, and 1753 are graded 4 of 6 or better. Personal care at home is free in Scotland where a council assessment says it is needed. Anything bought privately beyond that is quoted by the hour, and the Homecare Association puts the minimum a provider must charge in 2026-27 at £34.42. They sit across 32 local authorities, so pick the area that covers you.
Local authorities
- Aberdeen City128
- Aberdeenshire72
- Angus41
- Argyll and Bute41
- City of Edinburgh304
- Clackmannanshire28
- Dumfries and Galloway72
- Dundee City105
- East Ayrshire53
- East Dunbartonshire31
- East Lothian44
- East Renfrewshire23
- Falkirk89
- Fife126
- Glasgow City311
- Highland99
- Inverclyde37
- Midlothian39
- Moray36
- Na h-Eileanan Siar25
- North Ayrshire41
- North Lanarkshire110
- Orkney Islands23
- Perth and Kinross59
- Renfrewshire83
- Scottish Borders57
- Shetland Islands11
- South Ayrshire44
- South Lanarkshire86
- Stirling41
- West Dunbartonshire50
- West Lothian89
Towns in Scotland
- Glasgow 400
- Edinburgh 300
- Aberdeen 128
- Dundee 107
- Inverness 63
- Paisley 59
- Falkirk 47
- Perth 46
- Dumfries 43
- Kilmarnock 39
- Stirling 37
- Livingston 36
- Dunfermline 35
- Hamilton 33
- Elgin 33
- Kirkcaldy 32
- Greenock 30
- Glenrothes 29
- Bathgate 27
- Ayr 26
- Alloa 26
- Coatbridge 25
- Airdrie 25
- Clydebank 22
By type of care in Scotland
Home care in Scotland: questions people ask
- How much does home care cost in Scotland?
- Personal care at home is free in Scotland where a council assessment says it is needed, whatever your age or savings, so the real question is what any further hours cost. None of the 2398 services in Scotland publish a price, so you get a figure by ringing them. The Homecare Association puts the 2026-27 minimum a provider must charge at £34.42 an hour, or about £481.88 a week for two half-hour visits a day.
- Will the council pay for home care in Scotland?
- Personal care at home is free in Scotland. If your council's care needs assessment says you need help with washing, dressing, using the toilet, eating, medication or moving around, the council does not charge for it, whatever your age, income or savings. Nursing care from the NHS at home is free too. Help that is not personal care, such as housework, shopping and changing beds, can be charged for, at a rate your council sets after a financial assessment.
- Which home care services in Scotland are rated best?
- The Care Inspectorate grades services from 1 to 6 across several themes rather than giving one overall verdict. In Scotland, 2051 of 2398 services carry published grades and 1753, 85%, sit at 4 of 6 or better on their weakest theme. That is the same as the 85% across Scotland. The lowest grade tells you more than the highest, because it is the theme the inspector was least satisfied with.
- How do I choose a home care agency in Scotland?
- Start with what the regulator publishes, then ask what it cannot tell you: who would actually visit, whether it is the same carer each time, what happens when that person is ill, and how long a call really lasts. 347 of the 2398 services in Scotland carry no published verdict at all, so for those the questions are the only evidence you have. Every service here comes from the public register, and contacting one costs nothing: we take no fee and no commission.