Live-in Care in Anerley

Can you have live-in care in an Anerley flat?

Yes, if it has a second bedroom. Anerley's homes split into two very different kinds of flat. The big Victorian villas on the roads climbing towards the Crystal Palace ridge have been divided up, and their flats are often generous but oddly shaped: a high-ceilinged front room, a smaller back bedroom, a bathroom squeezed in on a half-landing. The post-war blocks are plainer, but their two-bedroom flats tend to have regular rooms on one level. Either can take a live-in carer once the second room is theirs alone.

Where there is only one bedroom, live-in care will not work, and visiting care is the realistic choice, subject to carer availability; see home care in Anerley. A whole house is the easy case for the room, and the stairs become the question, covered below.

Stairs, small bathrooms and getting out of the building

Victorian houses in SE20 tend to have steep, narrow staircases, and conversion flats often have a shared communal stair with no lift. For a live-in placement that raises three practical questions, which we go through at the assessment:

1. Can your relative still get in and out of the front door, or are they effectively housebound until something changes?
2. Will the bathroom take a shower chair, bath lift or mobile hoist, or does washing need to happen at the bedside?
3. Is there room around the bed for the carer to help with turning and transfers safely?

A live-in carer cannot fix a building with no lift, but they can make the inside of the flat work and get your relative out on good days with the right support. Where equipment or adaptations are needed, Bromley Council's occupational therapy route, reached through its needs assessment, is the place to start.

Changeovers at Anerley station

Anerley is one of the easiest places in the borough for a carer to come and go. Anerley station is on the London Overground Windrush line, with Penge West one stop away, and the 75 bus runs to Anerley Road from Lewisham. On changeover day the new carer arrives, the two carers go through the care plan and the week's notes together, and the outgoing carer leaves by train or bus. No car is needed.

If someone does drive, check the signs on your street. Parts of Penge have permit bays, and Bromley issues no carers' permits, so a car in a permit bay during restricted hours needs one of your visitor vouchers.

The carer's break: Betts Park, Crystal Palace Park and Penge

A live-in carer has protected time off every day, with someone else covering. Anerley has good places to spend it within a few minutes' walk. Betts Park, off Anerley Road, keeps a short surviving stretch of the old Croydon Canal. Crystal Palace Park is at the top of Anerley Hill. Penge High Street has shops and cafés, and Penge Library is on Green Lane.

Some of the same places suit your relative, with the carer beside them: a flat stroll in Betts Park is gentler than the climb up to the Crystal Palace ridge. Anerley Town Hall, run by the Crystal Palace Community Trust, holds community activities. For someone with dementia, Age UK Bromley & Greenwich runs the Memory Lane Café, which family and carer can attend together.

Coming home to a first-floor flat

Bromley's main acute hospital is the Princess Royal University Hospital at Farnborough, run by King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, though Anerley sits on the Croydon edge of the borough, so a hospital outside Bromley may be involved. Wherever the stay, discharge to an upstairs flat needs planning: who helps on the communal stairs, who is there the first night, and whether the bathroom is safe. A live-in carer who is already in place on the day of discharge can manage all three. Ask the ward to include care at home in the plan, then call us.

How much does live-in care cost in Anerley?

We give you a written figure after the assessment, based on the care needed and whether it is for one person or a couple. If the address is in Bromley (check the council tax bill, since Anerley borders Croydon), Bromley Council's needs assessment is the route to council funding, with a financial assessment to follow. NHS Continuing Healthcare is assessed separately. For the full picture see live-in care in Bromley and our London live-in care page.

What we can help with in Anerley

• A carer living in, with their own room
• Care for one person or a couple
• Personal care through the day
• Medication support
• Cooking, housekeeping and laundry
• Dementia support at home
• Company, outings and appointments
• Cover arranged for the carer's breaks