Live-in Care in Southwark, from Bermondsey to Dulwich

Yes, we provide live-in care across the whole London Borough of Southwark. A trained carer moves into the home and supports one person or a couple with personal care, medication, meals, housework and company, and a cover carer steps in for their breaks and holidays. It starts with a free home assessment, usually with Jackie, our registered manager, and the home must have a spare bedroom for the carer.

Next door to our office, so why live-in?

Southwark borders Lewisham, where our office is, on Lewisham High Street. Nunhead is a few minutes away by train and Peckham Rye not much further, and even Dulwich Village and Rotherhithe are within about 35 minutes. So for many Southwark families visiting home care is a real option, subject to which carers we have free.

Live-in care is for when visits leave too many hours alone: someone up at night, a fall that would go unnoticed until teatime, or dementia that means the person cannot be left. The carer travels in once and then lives there, so a flat by Canada Water is as straightforward for us as a house in Nunhead.

Does a Southwark council flat have room for a live-in carer?

At the 2011 census Southwark had the highest share of social housing of any English council area, 43.7% of homes, and many older residents are long-standing council tenants in Walworth, Bermondsey, Peckham and Camberwell.

• Two-bedroom flats and maisonettes on the post-war estates often work well, though a maisonette's internal stairs need checking.
• Deck-access blocks, such as the Aylesbury in Walworth, raise a different question: the lift and the walkway. We check both at the assessment, because they decide how a wheelchair or hospital bed gets in.
• One-bedroom flats do not work for live-in care. The carer needs their own room and cannot sleep on the sofa. Visiting care or a sit-in service is the honest answer there.
• Newer blocks at Elephant Park, Canada Water and along the river at Rotherhithe usually have lifts and level access, which helps as mobility changes.

If you rent from the council or a housing association, it is sensible to tell your housing officer that a carer will be staying with you.

Terraces in Peckham, Nunhead and East Dulwich; family houses in Dulwich Village

Much of East Dulwich, Nunhead and the streets around Bellenden Road are Victorian terraces split into upper and lower flats. An upper flat may have the spare room but a steep staircase and a narrow bathroom where a hoist or level-access shower is hard to fit. Dulwich Village and West Dulwich have the borough's largest family houses, where a spare bedroom is most likely; there the question is usually whether the bathroom is upstairs and whether a bed should come down for a while. When you ask Southwark's Older People and Physical Disabilities (OPPD) team for a needs assessment, ask about equipment and adaptations too.

One carer for a couple who have shared a landing for fifty years

Some Southwark couples have lived on the same estate since it was built. When one needs care and the other cannot manage alone, the usual alternatives separate them or move them away from the Blue market, East Street, the church and the neighbours along the deck. One live-in carer can support both: full personal care for one partner, shopping, meals for two and someone in the flat at night for the other. We assess each person separately, and the care plan says which help is for whom.

Where the carer's daily break fits in

A live-in carer is entitled to a daily break and an unbroken night's sleep, planned around the person's routine. Good places to fit it: the Stones End Day Centre in Borough, run by Age UK Lewisham and Southwark, with door-to-door transport; Link Age Southwark's dementia service for people with mild to moderate dementia, based in East Dulwich; or a family visit.

If help is needed through the night as well as all day, one carer cannot do both; that needs a second carer, and we will say so at the assessment. Holidays are covered by a replacement carer, planned in advance.

Live-in care, flexicare or a care home

Southwark Adult Social Care looks at the options after a needs assessment. For older people and adults with dementia or a physical disability, request one through the OPPD team's online referral form, or by phoning 020 7525 3324 if it is urgent or you cannot use the form.

Besides care homes, Southwark runs flexicare housing with care staff on site around the clock, at Harriet Hardy House, Lime Tree House, Lew Evans House and Tayo Situ House. It means a move, but to your own flat. Live-in care means no move at all, which suits couples and people with dementia who would be unsettled by a new home. If a care home is being suggested and you want live-in care considered first, say so at the assessment.

How much does live-in care cost in Southwark?

We give a written quote after the home assessment, once we know the level of support, whether it is for one person or two, and what happens at night. Payment routes:

• Southwark Council. If the person has eligible needs, a financial assessment decides what they contribute. For 2026 to 2027 the national capital limits are £23,250 (upper) and £14,250 (lower), as set out in the Department of Health and Social Care circular. For care at home, the value of the home you live in is not counted. Southwark has an online contribution calculator that gives a rough idea.
• Direct payments. The council's share can be taken as a direct payment and spent on care from an agency like ours. People Plus can manage the budget for you.
• NHS Continuing Healthcare. Where needs are mainly health needs, the NHS can fund the whole package, and it is not means-tested. For Southwark residents the decision sits with NHS South East London Integrated Care Board. The NHS guide to Continuing Healthcare explains the checklist.

Our guide to paying for care in London covers each route.

What we can help with in Southwark

• 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