Live-in Care in Reigate: a Carer Who Stays

Across Reigate, from the flats near the station to Woodhatch, South Park and the lanes below Reigate Hill, live-in care is what we can offer. Our Lewisham office is more than an hour away, but that only matters on changeover day. Once the carer has arrived, they are living in your house. Carers have to be free for your dates, so call before you count on a particular start. Jackie, our registered manager, usually does the free home assessment herself, and you get a written care plan.

Will a live-in carer fit your Reigate home?

The carer needs their own bedroom, with a decent bed and space for their belongings, and shared use of the kitchen and a bathroom. Housing in the town varies a lot, as Census 2021 shows:

• Central Reigate ward: almost a third of homes (31.4%) are detached, more than anywhere else in town. Yet about 35% are flats, purpose-built or in converted houses. With two bedrooms and a lift, a flat is fine; with one bedroom, there is nowhere for the carer to sleep.
• South Park and Woodhatch: 49.8% semi-detached. There is usually a small third bedroom for the carer; the harder decision is whether to bring the main bed downstairs.
• Meadvale and St John's: detached houses and semis in roughly equal measure. Space isn't the issue. Sloping drives and front steps are, for a wheelchair.

At the assessment we also think ahead: where would a profiling bed or a hoist fit if they were needed next year? Sorting that early is far easier than rearranging rooms the week after a fall.

When both of you are getting older

The Census counted 447 households in the Reigate ward where every member was 66 or older, usually an older couple. A familiar pattern follows when one partner has a stroke or develops dementia. The other copes, then struggles, then is told the answer is a nursing home for one and the house for the other.

A single live-in carer can look after both of you. Hands-on care for whoever needs it, light support for the other, cooking for two, errands, and someone steady on the stairs. Our care plan names both of you from day one.

Live-in care, extra care housing or a care home?

Surrey's October 2025 planning profile for Reigate and Banstead lays out the local alternatives. The borough has 1,111 nursing home beds, about 73 for every thousand residents aged 75 and over, close to twice England's rate of 38. Extra care housing is thinner: four schemes are open, and Anvil Court in Horley, with 60 flats, is the only affordable one. Linters Court in Redhill, Banstead Place and Wavertree Court in Horley are market schemes. All of them involve moving out of Reigate.

The financial assessment treats the two paths differently. If you move into residential care, Surrey takes your house into account once a 12-week disregard ends. With care at home, Surrey's guidance says the house is left out of the sum. For owners who want to keep living in their own home, that can settle the question.

Alongside the district nurses and St Catherine's

Our carers aren't nurses and don't stand in for them. NHS district nursing for housebound people in east Surrey comes from First Community Health and Care, based in Redhill, and families can refer directly on 01737 775450. Dressings, injections and other clinical jobs remain theirs. In between their visits, the carer is the one in the house: spotting changes, writing them down, and helping with washing, turning, eating and drinking.

St Catherine's Hospice, at Pease Pottage, cares for people across West Sussex and East Surrey, mostly at home, once a GP or other professional has referred them. Its doctors and nurses manage symptoms, and families can ring its advice line on 01293 447333 between 8am and 4pm, seven days a week. The hospice says plainly that its community team does not give personal care at home. A live-in carer covers exactly that. Read how we fit in on our palliative care page.

Changeover days in and out of Reigate

Placements end with a handover, one carer leaving as the next arrives. For that, Reigate is better connected than most towns outside London. The direct Southern service reaches Victoria in under 50 minutes, and Redhill, two miles east, has Thameslink trains through to London Bridge. Every platform at Reigate is step-free, though partly via ramps or the street, and with no lift a carer hauling a case may want help from station staff.

A carer who brings a car needs a plan for parking. Surrey County Council has managed on-street permits in Reigate since April 2023. Its free carers permit is designed for a resident who depends on regular visits, so a resident visitor permit may be the closer match for a live-in carer. Each visitor permit covers one day, so for a placement of several weeks ask Surrey which permit fits, or plan for off-street parking. Check with Surrey for your street before the first handover.

The carer's breaks and nights

Each day the carer has a break, and they need a proper night's sleep. Priory Park and the castle grounds are a short walk from the High Street, handy for that hour. If the person can't be left alone during it, we arrange cover in advance: a relative, a neighbour, or a regular outing like the weekday lunch at Woodhatch Community Centre. Where someone wakes and needs help several times a night, every night, one carer can't do days as well, and we will be frank about that when we assess.

Paying for live-in care in Reigate

You won't find our prices on the website. They depend on the level of care, on whether it is one person or two, and on how disturbed nights are. After the assessment you get a written figure. Our post on what affects live-in care costs explains the factors.

Public funding is possible. If savings are under the £23,250 upper limit, the council may contribute. Surrey can pay eligible support as a direct payment, put towards some or all of the care in the plan with a provider of your choosing. When a person can't manage that money themselves, Surrey can pay it to a trusted relative instead, which it calls a third-party direct payment. Mainly health needs? Ask about NHS Continuing Healthcare, which the NHS Surrey and Sussex Integrated Care Board assesses.

How live-in care works →