Live-in Care in London | SD Care Agency | CQC Registered, Chiswick

Live-in care in London

Nobody should have to leave a home they’ve lived in for forty years.

One dedicated carer moves in. Mornings, mealtimes, medication — and the difficult hours in between. Arranged from our Chiswick office, usually within 72 hours.

From £1,300 a week · privately funded · no VAT

Request a free home assessment Call 020 8146 6195
  • CQC regulated and ISO 9001:2015 certified by DNV
  • A named relief carer in place before care begins
  • A local care manager who visits, not a call centre
  • Over 1,000 independently verified reviews

Speak to a care manager today

Tell us a little about the situation. A care manager from our Chiswick office will call you back, usually within two hours, seven days a week.


No obligation, no pressure, and no fee for the assessment.

Regulated, certified and independently reviewed Registered with the Care Quality Commission CQC
Registered ISO 9001:2015 certified by DNV ISO 9001:2015
DNV 1,000+ independently verified reviews 1,000+
Verified reviews 99%Client satisfaction 24/7Emergency on-call line

Live-in care at a glance

The four things families ask first.

£1,300/wk Starting rate for privately funded live-in care. No VAT, no room or boarding fee.
72 hours Typical time from your first phone call to a carer moving in, when it’s urgent.
1 to 1 One carer, one household. Not a rota shared across a floor of residents.
99% Client satisfaction, across more than 1,000 independently verified reviews.

A day in the life

It’s rarely the mornings that families struggle with.

Most families manage breakfast. What wears them down is everything around it, and the hours when nobody is there at all. Here’s what a full day looks like once a live-in carer is in the house.

  1. 07:00

    Waking, washing and dressing — unhurried, and in her own bathroom.

  2. 08:30

    Breakfast, and the morning medication taken properly. No more counting blister packs over the phone.

  3. 11:00

    A walk to the park, the newspaper, a coffee. The GP appointment on Thursday — someone to go along and remember what was said.

  4. 14:00

    Lunch, then a rest. Your carer takes their two-hour break while she sleeps.

  5. 18:30

    Supper cooked in her own kitchen, the way she likes it. Company at the table.

  6. 21:30

    Settled for the night. The carer sleeps in the spare room, within earshot.

  7. 03:00

    She gets up, confused and unsteady. Someone is already there.

This is the hour families call us about

Why families call us

Most people ring us on the worst week they’ve had.

There’s usually a moment when managing it yourself stops being possible. If any of these sound familiar, live-in care is worth a conversation.

A fall

She’s had a fall, and you found out hours later

One fall changes the calculation entirely. The worry is no longer hypothetical, and visiting carers who come in for forty minutes twice a day don’t close the gap.

Discharge

The hospital wants to discharge him this week

A discharge date lands with almost no notice and the ward assumes a care package will appear. We can arrange live-in care fast and coordinate directly with the discharge team.

Dementia

The dementia has moved past what you can manage

Familiar surroundings matter enormously with dementia. A move to a care home often accelerates confusion. Live-in care keeps the routine, the furniture and the street outside intact.

Burnout

You’ve become the carer, and you’re exhausted

Many families reach us when the daughter or the husband doing the caring has run out. You are allowed to stop being the carer and go back to being family.

The viewing

You viewed a care home and couldn’t do it

Plenty of families arrive here after a viewing that felt wrong. Live-in care costs broadly the same as a good London care home and buys one-to-one attention instead of a shared rota.

What the weekly fee covers

What a live-in carer actually does.

An SD Care carer supporting a client at home

Included as standard

  • Personal care — washing, dressing, continence support, and help with dignity intact
  • Medication prompting, ordering and recording
  • All cooking, to her own tastes, in her own kitchen
  • Housekeeping, laundry, shopping and the daily running of the home
  • Mobility support and help reducing the risk of falls
  • Company at appointments, and a written record of what the GP said
  • Walks, church, the club, the garden — the parts of the week that matter
  • Overnight presence in the home, with support during the night as needed
  • A care plan reviewed by a care manager who visits in person

What we’re clear about upfront

  • The carer needs their own bedroom, wi-fi, and a two-hour break each day
  • Food and household bills for the carer are the household’s cost, as is standard across the sector
  • If someone needs help several times every night, that is waking night or rota care — a different service, at a different price. We’ll tell you which one you need
  • Live-in care is not nursing care. Where there’s a clinical need we work alongside district nurses and the GP

On carer cover. Every live-in placement has a named relief carer identified before care begins. If your carer is unwell or needs emergency leave, our local care management team arranges cover the same day. You will never be left without care.

Cost

What live-in care costs in London.

We publish our starting rates because it saves everyone a wasted phone call. Across London in 2026, live-in care generally runs between £1,300 and £1,800 a week. Care is exempt from VAT, so nothing is added to these figures.

SD Care live-in rates, London — from
Level of care Typically suits Per week, from
Standard live-in care Frailty, mobility, companionship, help with the household £1,300
Dementia & Parkinson’s Specialist-trained carer, consistent routine, disturbed nights £1,425
Complex & palliative End of life care, hoisting, PEG, catheter, stroke recovery £1,575

A London care home

  • £1,400 to £2,200 a week, and considerably more in central London
  • Care shared across a staff rota, typically one carer to six or more residents
  • The house is usually sold to fund it
  • Visiting hours, an unfamiliar room, a new routine
  • Little say over meals, bedtimes or daily rhythm

Live-in care with SD Care

  • From £1,300 a week, with no VAT and no room or boarding fee
  • One carer, one person — undivided attention all day
  • The house stays in the family
  • Her own bed, her own kitchen, her own front door
  • Her routine, her meals, her friends dropping in whenever they like

Where we work

Live-in care across London, run from Chiswick.

Our care managers cover the ground in person. That means an assessment in the home within a day or two, and a manager who knows the local GP surgeries, hospitals and district nursing teams rather than a name on a rota.

Central

  • Kensington & Chelsea
  • Westminster
  • Belgravia & Pimlico
  • Marylebone
  • St John’s Wood

West

  • Chiswick, W4
  • Hammersmith & Fulham
  • Ealing
  • Kew
  • Hounslow & Brent

South West

  • Richmond upon Thames
  • Twickenham
  • Barnes & East Sheen
  • Wimbledon & Merton
  • Kingston upon Thames

South & East

  • Dulwich & Southwark
  • Lewisham
  • Bromley
  • Croydon
  • Surrey — Guildford & Woking

Not sure whether we reach you? Ring the office on 020 8146 6195 and we’ll tell you straight away.

How it works

From the first phone call to a carer in the house.

An unhurried conversation

You tell us what’s been happening. We tell you honestly whether live-in care is the right answer, and roughly what it would cost.

Same day

An assessment at home

A care manager visits, meets the family, looks at the house, and writes a care plan around the actual routine, not a template.

Within 24 to 48 hours

Matching the carer

We match on personality and interests as well as skills, and on language and background where that matters. You meet them before care begins.

1 to 3 days

Care begins, and is reviewed

Your carer moves in with a relief carer already named. A care manager visits to check the fit and adjusts the plan as needs change.

Ongoing
Book the free assessment Call 020 8146 6195

From families we’ve cared for

What people say afterwards.

★★★★★

I don’t know what we would do without SD Care Agency. All the carers are kind, hard-working and meticulous. My husband’s Parkinson’s has got a lot worse so moving him can be challenging. The carers deal with this with good humour.
Family of a live-in client, Chiswick

★★★★★

Every visit, the carers went above and beyond. They made the end of my mother’s life more comfortable and happier, and for that I will forever be truly grateful.
N P, daughter of a palliative care client

★★★★★

I would wholeheartedly recommend SD Care to anyone looking for care. You are in the safe hands of their wonderful people.
J E, verified client
  • Dementia & Alzheimer’s
  • Parkinson’s
  • Stroke recovery
  • Palliative & end of life
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Cancer
  • Frailty & falls
  • Post-operative recovery
  • Learning disabilities
  • Respite & holiday cover

Questions families ask

The things worth knowing before you commit.

What happens when our carer takes holiday or is unwell?
Every live-in placement has a named relief carer identified before care begins, so cover is never improvised. Planned leave is scheduled well in advance and communicated to the family. For sudden absence, our local care management team arranges same-day cover.
What does the carer need from the household?
Their own bedroom with a bed and somewhere to keep their things, wi-fi so they can complete care records, and a two-hour break in every 24 hours. Most families find this works best while their relative is resting in the afternoon. The carer cooks and eats the same meals, and household food costs cover them too.
Is live-in care the same as 24-hour care?
No, and the difference matters to the price. A live-in carer is present around the clock, works through the day and sleeps at night, getting up when needed. If someone needs help several times every night, every night, that requires waking night or rota care with two carers, a different service costing considerably more. We’ll tell you which one the situation actually calls for.
How quickly can care start?
For urgent situations such as a hospital discharge or a sudden deterioration, we can usually have a carer in place within 72 hours of the first call. Straightforward cases are often faster. Where a placement is planned in advance we take longer over the matching, because getting the right person matters more than getting someone quickly.
Can you support a couple in the same home?
Yes. One carer can support both people at home rather than the two of you facing separate care home placements. Where needs are heavier on both sides, two carers on a rotating pattern may be required. We’ll be straight with you about that at the assessment, and quote accordingly.
What if we don’t get on with the carer?
Tell your care manager. Matching is a judgement, and occasionally it isn’t right. We’ll arrange a different carer without argument or penalty. It is far more common that families ask to keep the same carer for years.
Are you regulated?
Yes. SD Care Agency is registered with and inspected by the Care Quality Commission, and we are ISO 9001:2015 certified by DNV. You can verify our CQC registration directly on the CQC website.
Can you take over from a hospital discharge?
Yes. We coordinate directly with ward discharge teams, district nurses and GPs, and can put care in place at short notice so a discharge date isn’t missed. Tell us which hospital and we’ll speak to them ourselves.
Is there a long contract to sign?
No long lock-in. Many families begin with a two-week trial or a respite placement while a family carer takes a break, then continue if it’s working. Notice periods are short and set out plainly in the care agreement.

The assessment is free, and there’s no obligation.

A care manager will visit, meet your family, and tell you honestly what they think, including if they think live-in care isn’t the right answer yet.

Request a free home assessment Call 020 8146 6195
SD Care Agency · Unit 9, Turnham Green Terrace Mews, Chiswick, London W4 1QU · Lines open seven days a week