Fees and contract information

Our fees

We believe families should be able to see what care costs before they visit. The weekly fees below are for people paying for their own care. Your exact fee will be confirmed in writing after we carry out a free care needs assessment, and will be recorded in your Admission Schedule. This is so we can make sure we can meet your needs and charge only for the care you need.

Fees correct from 05/11/2026. Reviewed once each year with reference to 1 April (see Fee reviews below).

Weekly fees for self-funded residents

Rooms are priced individually according to size, location and whether they have an en-suite toilet and shower. The same room rate range applies at both sites.

Type of care	Home	Room	Weekly fee
Residential dementia care	23 Howard Road	Priced individually (size, location, en-suite)	£1,295 to £1,500 per week
Residential care	23 Howard Road	Priced individually (size, location, en-suite)	£1,295 to £1,500 per week
Nursing care (including nursing dementia)	31-33 Howard Road	Priced individually (size, location, en-suite)	£1,562.68 to £1,767.68 per week (gross of NHS Funded Nursing Care — see below)
Respite care (short stays)	23 Howard Road (residential) or 31-33 Howard Road (nursing)	Priced individually (size, location, en-suite)	£1,295 to £1,500 per week (exact rate confirmed in the Admission Schedule; minimum stay 7 nights — see Respite below)

Where your fee sits within the range depends on the room’s size, location and whether it has an en-suite toilet and shower. We will explain the fee for the specific room before you agree to anything.

Nursing care and NHS Funded Nursing Care (FNC)

At our nursing home (31-33 Howard Road), the weekly fee is always charged gross of the NHS Funded Nursing Care contribution. The current FNC contribution is £267.68 per week. This amount is set by the NHS and paid directly to us where a resident is eligible.

If you are eligible for FNC, once we are receiving the NHS payment we deduct £267.68 from what you pay (your Net Resident Liability). The headline Total Fee itself does not change according to FNC eligibility. If the NHS awards FNC with a backdated start date covering a period when you have already paid the full Total Fee, we refund the FNC element for that period once we have received the backdated NHS payment.

While FNC eligibility is still being assessed, you pay the full Total Fee. Any later award is confirmed in writing and, where backdated, refunded as above. If FNC is later withdrawn, we will give at least 28 days’ written notice (or a shorter period if the NHS assessment timetable makes that unavoidable) before your Net Resident Liability returns to the full Total Fee.

Funded Nursing Care does not apply to residential placements at 23 Howard Road. If nursing needs arise there, we will discuss whether the placement can continue or whether a move to 31-33 Howard Road is needed.

What’s included in the weekly fee

Accommodation in your room
All meals, including provision for special dietary requirements, and drinks
Laundry of machine-washable personal belongings (excluding dry cleaning or hand-washing of delicate items). Please ensure all clothing is clearly labelled
Use of all facilities of the Home
Access to the telephone for UK calls, subject to fair and reasonable use
Newspapers and reading material in the lounge
Terrestrial television in your room
Use of books, music CDs and DVDs from the library
Occasional treat take-away meals
Fitness and activities classes
Birthday celebrations and day trips
Internet access via your own device, subject to lawful use and the service available to the Home

Extras (optional services)

The following optional services can be arranged in addition to the weekly fee:

Dry cleaning
Hairdressing
Private treatments such as chiropody, dentistry, physiotherapy or similar
Daily newspapers (where not included in the Total Fee)
Long-distance and international telephone calls
Private ambulance and/or escort (non-emergency)
Personal medical supplies (other than those available on prescription) and home remedies

These services are supplied and charged by third-party providers at their own rates. Current prices are available on request before any service is booked. Additional services are identified in advance where reasonably practicable, and nothing is arranged or charged without the resident’s or their representative’s agreement. For permanent placements, extras used are invoiced monthly in arrears (around the 10th of each month) and are due within 14 days of the invoice date. For respite stays, additional services are invoiced in arrears within 14 days of the end of the stay.

Respite and short stays

Respite and short-stay placements are available at both our residential home (23 Howard Road) and our nursing home (31-33 Howard Road). The stay is for a fixed period set out in the Admission Schedule.

Minimum stay: 7 nights, unless we agree a shorter stay in writing.
Maximum stay: normally 28 nights. Longer stays may be extended in writing as a further short period, or convert to a permanent placement under new terms.
Weekly rate: the room rate for the booked room, within £1,295 to £1,500 per week, confirmed in the Admission Schedule before you book. At the nursing site the fee is charged gross of NHS Funded Nursing Care (currently £267.68 per week); if eligible, FNC is deducted once we are receiving it, and any backdated award is refunded after the NHS payment arrives.
Payment: the fee for the full booked period is payable in advance before admission, unless we expressly agree otherwise in writing. Preferred payment methods are Direct Debit or bank transfer (BACS); card payments may be accepted at our discretion with no consumer surcharge. Where the full fee has been received before admission, no further invoice is raised for the booked period.
Late arrival, early departure or temporary absence during the booked dates: the respite fee remains payable for the full booked period, because the room and care have been reserved for those dates.
Cancellation before admission: cancel 14 or more days before the planned admission and any advance payments are refunded in full, except that we may retain a reasonable administration fee of no more than £25 where this was clearly disclosed before booking and only to the extent it reflects our actual administrative cost. Cancel between 7 and 13 days before, or less than 7 days before (or if the resident does not arrive without notice), and we may retain or charge up to 7 days of the respite fee, but only to the extent of our actual net loss after taking reasonable steps to re-allocate the room. We do not impose an automatic penalty; if we fill the room for all or part of the cancelled period, the amount retained or charged is reduced accordingly.
Ending a stay early: you may end a respite placement early by giving at least 7 days’ written notice (or less if agreed or if urgent welfare reasons make that reasonable). If the resident leaves before the end of the notice period, fees remain payable only for the notice period or until the room is re-booked for the same period, whichever is sooner. We may end a respite placement early only for a fair reason (for example if we cannot safely meet assessed needs). We will give as much written notice as is reasonable and practicable, and normally aim for at least 7 days except in a genuine emergency or safeguarding situation. Prepayments for days after the end of the notice period, or for services not supplied, are refunded. We will not charge twice for the same room for the same period.
Extending a stay: ask as soon as you can. Extensions are not guaranteed. If agreed, they are recorded in writing with the revised departure date, revised fee (if any), and whether the stay remains respite or converts to a permanent placement. Where an extension would take the total stay beyond 28 nights, we may require transfer to permanent placement terms, confirmed in writing.
No automatic trial period for a pre-booked respite or short-stay placement.

Deposits and upfront payments

We do not charge a security deposit or a non-refundable administration or joining fee.

Before admission we ask for payment of the first month’s fees (or any agreed top-up contribution, where applicable). Where you wish to reserve a specific room pending admission, we may ask for an optional reservation fee of one week’s Total Fee. That reservation fee is applied in full against your first invoice on admission. It is not a security deposit. It is refunded in full if we cannot accommodate you on the agreed date for reasons within our control, or if you cancel with at least 14 days’ written notice. If you give fewer than 14 days’ notice of cancellation, or do not arrive without prior notice, we may retain the reservation fee to cover the cost of holding the room, and will refund any amount we recover if the room is re-let after deducting our reasonable costs.

How and when you pay

We invoice monthly for the Total Fee. Invoices are issued on or around the 20th of each calendar month for the following month. The first invoice is prorated from your admission date. Payment is due on or before the 1st of the month to which it relates (or the next working day if the 1st falls on a weekend or bank holiday). We allow a 5-day grace period for banking processing.

Our preferred payment method is Direct Debit. Where Direct Debit is not possible, bank transfer (BACS) is accepted. Card payments may be accepted at our discretion; we do not add a surcharge for consumer card payments. Invoices are sent by email unless you ask for them by post.

If your funding changes

If your savings are falling towards the level at which Local Authority funding may be needed, please tell us and the Local Authority promptly so a financial assessment can start in good time. As a guide, we usually expect to be told once capital is at or approaching £60,000.

Until written confirmation that Local Authority, NHS or other third-party funding has been approved and will begin from a specified date, the Total Fee remains payable in full. If public funding is later approved for a period you have already paid, we will credit or refund the relevant amounts once we have received payment from the authority.

If Local Authority or other public funding does not fully cover our usual fees, the placement can continue only if, within a reasonable period, the authority agrees the placement at our rate, an approved third-party top-up is put in place through the authority’s process, or another lawful funding arrangement is agreed. Top-ups are arranged and documented through the Local Authority (or NHS) process; we do not accept informal top-up arrangements. If no arrangement can be agreed, we may need to end the Contract after consultation, giving at least 28 days’ written notice.

We do accept placements funded by a Local Authority or NHS Continuing Healthcare where the placement is agreed with the relevant authority. Any resident contribution or third-party top-up must go through that authority’s paperwork.

Fee reviews

Provided your care needs do not change, the Total Fee may be reviewed once in each calendar year with reference to 1 April. Roughly 80% of the fee follows the change in our Healthcare Assistant pay rate (in most cases rising in line with the National Living Wage), and roughly 20% follows the annual increase in the Retail Price Index (RPI All Items) for the February before the review. We normally notify you during April, with the revised fee taking effect from 1 May, and we give at least 28 days’ written notice.

Residents admitted after 31 December join the following year’s review cycle. We may also review the fee if your assessed care needs change materially (discussed with you first), or by a fair and reasonable amount if a significant unexpected change in law or regulation increases our costs, again with at least 28 days’ written notice. At the nursing site the review applies to the Total Fee; any change in the NHS FNC rate only affects what you pay after FNC.

Trial period, notice and leaving

Trial period (permanent placements): the first 28 days. During the trial, either side may end the placement by giving at least 7 days’ written notice. We will only end a placement during the trial for a fair reason — for example if we cannot safely meet assessed needs, there are serious behaviour or safety concerns, or agreed funding is not in place despite reasonable efforts. There is no automatic trial period for a pre-booked respite or short-stay placement.
After the trial period: you or your Nominated Representative may end the Contract by giving not less than 28 days’ written notice (or a shorter period if agreed, or if hospital admission, safeguarding or other welfare reasons make that necessary).
If we need to end the placement: we may do so with at least 28 days’ written notice if, in our reasonable opinion, we can no longer provide the level of care required; if there is a material breach that is not remedied within 28 days of our written request; if there are unresolved funding problems; or (except in urgent cases) if behaviour or circumstances may be detrimental to the welfare of other residents or staff. In urgent welfare cases we may give at least 48 hours’ notice. Before giving notice for care needs, welfare or breach, we will where reasonably practicable consult you, your representative and relevant professionals, and consider whether reasonable adjustments would allow the placement to continue safely.
Fees during notice: the Total Fee remains payable during the notice period. If you leave earlier, fees are payable only until the earlier of the end of the notice period and the date the room is re-occupied or re-booked. We will not charge twice for the same room. Any overpayment is refunded promptly.

If a resident passes away

Any fees outstanding at the time of death are charged to the estate (and/or any other person legally responsible under the Contract). We may continue to charge the room rate until the earlier of: (a) the date the room is cleared of possessions; (b) 7 days from the day after death; or (c) the date the room is re-occupied. We will not charge for the same room twice. Under normal circumstances we ask that the room be cleared within 3 days. Any overpayment or money held on the resident’s behalf is refunded to the estate promptly. We will liaise with the estate or Nominated Representative about collecting belongings.

Hospital stays and other absences

We keep your room available during temporary absences. The Total Fee remains payable in full for absences of up to 7 days. For absences of more than 7 days, we may where practical deduct any savings we are able to make as a result of the absence (for example reduced food, heating and lighting costs).

Our contract

Before you decide, you can read our standard residence documents: the Consent to Care & Terms of Residence, the Financial Terms (for permanent self-funded placements), and the Admission Schedule.

Download our sample contract (PDF)
Download our respite and short-stay addendum (PDF)

We will go through the documents with you and answer any questions before you sign.

Complaints

Please speak first to the Home Manager or a senior member of staff. We will acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days and provide a full written response within 28 days. If you remain unhappy, you may refer your complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (www.lgo.org.uk) or contact the Care Quality Commission. Our written complaints procedure is available on request and is displayed in the Home.

Talk to us

Call 01202 511399 or book a visit. We’re happy to talk through fees, funding and what’s right for your family.

Rated Good by the Care Quality Commission (report published 27 August 2025). See our CQC report on cqc.org.uk