Free UK care market briefing
See what is changing across the care sector.
A straightforward monthly view of recent CQC assessments, care-home openings and closures, and legal signals affecting care providers.
Data current to June 2026. Assessment and legal-signal figures cover the last 30 days.
Market snapshot
What the latest data is showing
These are sector-level indicators, designed to help you spot changes worth exploring further.
Recent CQC activity
Latest care home assessments
The most recently published assessments in the current dataset.
| Care home | Rating | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Chestnuts Retirement Home The Chestnuts Retirement Home LLP | 19 Aug 2026 | |
| Able Hands Healthcare Ltd Able Hands Healthcare Ltd | 19 Aug 2026 | |
| Cherry Tree Lodge Nursing Home Prime Life Limited | 19 Aug 2026 | |
| Ferndown Nursing Home Kenmore Ferndown Limited | 19 Aug 2026 | |
| Windsor Court Residential Home Oxbridge Care Limited | 19 Aug 2026 | |
| Keate House Residential Home Keate House Residential Home Limited | 19 Aug 2026 | |
| St Cecilia's - Care Home with Nursing Physical Disabilities Leonard Cheshire Disability | 19 Aug 2026 |
Rating trend
Ratings issued in the last 30 days
597 published assessment ratings in total.
Legal signals
Care-sector court activity
CE-File records from the last 30 days.
Care-related cases
27
Winding-up petitions
19
Most recently recorded case
Whitestone Care Limited
Companies - Petition - Winding Up Petition · 17 Aug 2026
Capacity movement
Openings and closures
Latest published month: July 2026.
Homes opened
0
Homes closed
120
Net change in beds
-6,017
Net homes: -120
Care-home exits
Deregistrations in context
Care homes deregistered in the last 90 days.
Homes deregistered
133
Beds recorded
6,532
Share of the past 12 months
17.9% of deregistrations
745 homes and 22,820 beds recorded over 12 months.
What to notice
Three changes worth keeping an eye on
A simple reading of the live figures above — not a judgement about any individual care service.
Net beds in the latest month
More care-home beds closed than opened in July 2026.
Of annual deregistrations
Recorded in the last 90 days, representing 133 care homes and 6,532 beds.
Care-provider winding-up petitions
Recorded in the last 30 days. Court activity can be an early signal to investigate alongside other evidence.
Detailed market trends
Opening and closure trend
Published monthly opening, closure and net-bed figures.
| Month | Opened | Closed | Net beds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 65 | 71 | +454 |
| Sep 2025 | 33 | 57 | -127 |
| Oct 2025 | 87 | 82 | +556 |
| Nov 2025 | 72 | 81 | +639 |
| Dec 2025 | 51 | 39 | +485 |
| Jan 2026 | 83 | 80 | +1,043 |
| Feb 2026 | 111 | 46 | +3,961 |
| Mar 2026 | 72 | 65 | +339 |
| Apr 2026 | 57 | 64 | +49 |
| May 2026 | 63 | 50 | +979 |
| Jun 2026 | 27 | 47 | -540 |
| Jul 2026 | 0 | 120 | -6,017 |
Detailed market trends
Recent deregistrations
Care-home deregistrations and recorded beds by month.
| Month | Homes | Beds |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 2026 | 122 | 6,119 |
| May 2026 | 51 | 1,565 |
| Apr 2026 | 53 | 1,424 |
| Mar 2026 | 64 | 1,650 |
| Feb 2026 | 66 | 1,435 |
| Jan 2026 | 46 | 1,221 |
Service research preview
Start with a real care-home profile.
Open a recent assessment to see how a full Smart Care Intel profile brings ratings, provider context and change history together.
Recently assessed care home
Chestnuts Retirement Home
The Chestnuts Retirement Home LLP
Open care-home profile
Beyond this free briefing
Turn sector information into practical action.
A full account lets you research individual services, assess risk, create improvement work and keep evidence in one place.
- Detailed care-home and provider research
- Improvement reports, procedures and competency tools
- Risk assessments and guided PIR returns