Home Care Charges Cap in Wales: The £100 Weekly Maximum

The £100 Weekly Cap Is a Hard Ceiling

Wales enforces a statutory maximum weekly charge for non-residential care — domiciliary care, day services, and other support received at home — of £100 per week. No local authority in Wales can charge more than this, regardless of how much care you receive or how much money you have.

This is one of the sharpest differences between Welsh and English care funding. England has no equivalent statutory cap for home care charges. English local authorities set their own rates, and families paying for substantial home care packages in England routinely face weekly charges of £300, £500, or more. In Wales, even if your assessed care package costs the council £800 per week, the most you can be charged is £100.

The cap applies to all non-residential care services arranged by the local authority through its care and support duties under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014.

The Capital Threshold for Home Care

For non-residential care, Wales applies a separate capital threshold of £24,000 (lower than the £50,000 threshold used for residential care). If the person receiving care has capital above £24,000, they can still be charged — but never more than £100 per week.

If capital falls below £24,000, the local authority assesses the person's ability to pay and charges accordingly, on a sliding scale. People with very low capital and income may pay nothing at all.

The exact charge is calculated through the local authority's financial assessment, using the person's income, capital, and circumstances — but the total charge remains capped at £100 regardless.

Why This Matters for Power of Attorney Planning

The £100 cap creates a strong financial incentive to keep a relative receiving care at home rather than moving them into residential care. The cost difference is dramatic:

• Home care in Wales: maximum £100/week (£5,200/year)
• Residential care in Wales: average £800–£1,200/week for a nursing home (£41,600–£62,400/year), fully self-funded if capital exceeds £50,000

This is where a Property and Financial Affairs LPA becomes critical. If a person loses capacity, their attorney needs to manage the financial assessment, liaise with the local authority, arrange and pay for the care package, and ensure the cap is being applied correctly. Without an LPA, the family cannot legally handle any of this — and the Court of Protection deputyship route takes 4 to 6 months while the care need is immediate.

Minimum Income Protection

The Welsh local authority must also leave the person with a set amount of income after charging for non-residential care to help meet daily living costs. This protected amount is applied through the financial assessment, so the charge must be reduced if the maximum would leave the person without it.

If applying the £100 charge would leave the person without the protected amount for daily living costs, the charge must be reduced. The cap is a maximum, not a flat rate — the actual charge depends on individual circumstances.

Getting the Assessment Right

The financial assessment for non-residential care is conducted by the local authority's social services team. Certain income sources are fully disregarded (Disability Living Allowance mobility component, War Disablement Pension, certain charitable payments). Others are partially disregarded. The assessment is detailed, and errors can result in overcharging.

An attorney acting under a Property and Financial Affairs LPA has the right to request a copy of the financial assessment, challenge calculations, and appeal decisions through the local authority's complaints process. This is routine work for an active attorney managing care arrangements — and it is work that simply cannot happen without either an LPA or a deputyship order.

Our Wales LPA toolkit covers the full Welsh care funding framework, including the home care cap, residential thresholds, and the financial assessment process that determines what your family actually pays.

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