England regulator base
CQC is the main source for regulated care-home locations, service types, ratings and provider records in England.
Market size
How many care homes are there in the UK?
A source-backed guide to care-home counts, bed capacity and why the answer changes depending on England-only, UK-wide, residential and nursing-home definitions.
Quick answer
Care-home counts depend on the source and definition. CareHomeData currently tracks 14,878 England care homes and about 485,000 registered beds in the protected product, while UK-wide counts require adding the Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland regulators.
UK-wide caution
A true UK total needs separate regulator data for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Commercial usefulness
For suppliers, raw counts matter less than contactability, capacity, geography and provider group context.
Why totals differ
Some sources count older-adult homes only, some include younger-adult or specialist homes, and some mix residential care, nursing care and other regulated services. A defensible answer needs the source date and definition.
What CareHomeData uses
CareHomeData starts with official regulator records, then keeps service type, bed capacity, provider, geography, rating and enrichment fields separate so users can filter to the exact market they mean.
FAQs
Why not use one public number everywhere?
Because care-home counts vary by geography, date, service type and whether the source includes residential, nursing, specialist or inactive locations.
Does CareHomeData show the full list publicly?
No. Public pages show aggregate statistics and methodology. Search, profile rows, contact routes and exports are protected.