Nunhead · Southwark
Live-in Care in Nunhead
Yes, we arrange live-in care in Nunhead: a carer moves into the home and supports one person or a couple day to day, with a cover carer for breaks and holidays. Jackie, our registered manager, visits first for a free assessment of the person's needs and of the home itself, because the carer needs a bedroom of their own.
Visits from over the border, or a carer who lives in?
Nunhead backs onto Lewisham, and many families here start with short visits (our home care page for Nunhead explains how they work). A live-in carer becomes the better fit when the gaps between visits are the worry: a parent who wanders out towards the Green at dusk, or who could fall in a split-level flat and lie there until the next visit.
Being a short train ride from our SE13 office still helps a live-in arrangement, because care plan reviews and checking in with a new carer are easy to fit in.
Which Nunhead homes have room for a live-in carer?
- A whole Victorian or Edwardian terrace. Many still have two or three bedrooms, so the carer takes the back or box room and a couple can stay in their own room together.
- A terrace split into two flats. The ground-floor flat often has one bedroom plus a front room. Making the front room the person's bedroom can work if some sitting space remains. The upper flat is more likely to have two bedrooms, with a steep internal stair to deal with.
- Council and housing association blocks. Two-bedroom flats in the low-rise blocks suit live-in care well. Tell your landlord that a carer will be staying.
- A one-bedroom flat. A carer cannot live in without their own room. We will say so plainly and talk through visits or a sit-in service.
Stairs, split flats and getting equipment in
In an upper flat, the person's bedroom and bathroom are usually upstairs from the front door, with no lift. A profiling bed, commode and mobile hoist all have to come up the same narrow stair. A straight stair in a whole house may take a stairlift; one with a winder often cannot. Ask the council's occupational therapists before buying anything, and we will build the equipment into the care plan.
Changeover day in Nunhead. Carers usually arrive by train. Nunhead station has Southeastern and Thameslink services, and Peckham Rye, a walk or short bus ride away, adds the Overground Windrush line and Southern. The P12 and 78 buses both run along Nunhead Lane. Where we can, we plan a short overlap so the outgoing carer can hand over the week in person.
Parking when a carer arrives by car
A live-in carer does not need a daily parking permit, because they are not coming and going between visits. It only matters when family drive a carer over with luggage. If the street is in a controlled parking zone, the resident can buy Southwark visitor's permits, in digital or paper form. Council estates run separate visitor vouchers.
The carer's daily break, from the Rye to Gordon Road
Every live-in carer gets a daily break, timed around the person's routine. Nearby options:
- Peckham Rye Park and Common, reached from Nunhead Lane. The council's page notes that the park opens at 7.30am and the Common never closes, with toilets near Strakers Road and a quiet community garden kept by the Friends of Peckham Rye Park.
- Nunhead Library. The library on Gordon Road has ramped access, an accessible toilet and study spaces, and is open 10am to 7pm on weekdays while Dulwich Library is being refurbished. Check the library's page for the current hours.
- Nunhead Cemetery. The woodland paths suit a carer who wants a quiet walk on their own.
Outside the break, the same places can be outings for the person. With its ramp and accessible toilet, the library is a realistic trip for someone using a wheelchair.
From King's or Lewisham Hospital to home
Nunhead residents go to King's College Hospital on Denmark Hill or, for some addresses, University Hospital Lewisham. Southwark's going into hospital guidance explains reablement, which is short-term support at home, usually free for up to six weeks. A live-in carer covers the nights and the hours between those visits, then carries on when reablement ends. Call us while a date is still being discussed; see our hospital discharge support.
Couples who want to stay in Nunhead
When one partner needs a lot of help and the other is managing, but only just, a live-in carer can support both under one care plan. The carer helps one with washing, dressing and medication and takes the cooking and shopping off the other. Whether one carer is enough depends on both partners' nights and on how many people each needs to move them, so we assess them separately and tell you plainly.
Who pays for live-in care in Nunhead?
We give a written quote after the free assessment. Southwark Council may fund or part-fund care after a needs assessment and a means test, and its contribution can be paid as a direct payment to use with an agency like ours. When the person's needs are mainly health needs, ask about NHS Continuing Healthcare, which is not means-tested. Our Southwark live-in care page covers the council route and the capital limits and our London live-in care guide explains a carer's week.
What we can help with in Nunhead
- 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
Live-in care elsewhere in Southwark
Live-in care pages for other parts of Southwark:
Our services
How we can help in Southwark
From a few visits a week to a carer who lives in, choose the support that fits.
Visiting care in Southwark
Regular visits for personal care, medication, meals and company.
Read more →Live-in care in Southwark
A carer who lives in, for one person or a couple.
Read more →Respite care in Southwark
Cover so a family carer can rest, recover or go away.
Read more →Supported living in Southwark
Our homes in Whitton, Kingston and Uxbridge.
Read more →Nunhead FAQs
Live-in care in Nunhead: your questions
Questions families ask us about Nunhead. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Ask a questionMum has the ground-floor flat of a split terrace with one bedroom and a front room. Could a carer live in?
Sometimes. If the front room can become her bedroom, the carer takes the other room, and there is still somewhere to sit and eat, it can work. We check the layout and the night-time route to the bathroom first.
Dad's room is downstairs and the spare room is upstairs. Will the carer hear him at night?
A monitor or a pressure mat usually solves it, and it goes in the care plan. If he needs help several times every night, one carer cannot also work all day, and we will talk about what extra help that needs.
Can the carer take my father to Nunhead Library?
Yes. It has ramped access and an accessible toilet, and staff run sessions on using computers and email. A regular trip can go in his care plan.
My parents rent a one-bedroom flat in a Nunhead block. What are our options?
Live-in care needs a second bedroom, so it is not possible there as things stand. Visiting care or a sit-in service at the times help is most needed are the alternatives, and you could ask the landlord about a transfer on care grounds.
Who do I tell at King's that we want a live-in carer at home?
Tell the ward nurse and discharge team as soon as discharge is mentioned. We will arrange the home assessment around the discharge date, so the room and any equipment are ready when they come back.
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Looking for care in Nunhead?
Tell us what is happening and we will tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.