Knowledge hub · Contracts and tenders

How to Get Domiciliary Care Contracts in 2026

Council, NHS and private routes explained: the types of contract, how the Procurement Act 2023 and the NHS Provider Selection Regime work, how home care tenders are scored, what councils pay and how new providers win their first work. Checked against the sources on 18 October 2026.

Contract Types Live Care Tenders

Procurement Act 2023 applies to procurements started from 24 February: 2025
Homecare Association minimum price per hour, 2026/27: £34.42
Average hourly rate councils pay for home care, 2026/27: £25.05
Maximum length of recent council home care frameworks, with extensions: 8 years

By the Care Sync Experts tenders team, with a former CQC Senior Inspector Manager with more than 20 years in regulation. Last checked 18 October 2026.

How Do You Get Domiciliary Care Contracts?

Register with CQC, register your organisation on the government's central digital platform (Find a Tender), then work out how each council and integrated care board near you buys home care. Join the routes that are open now: spot purchase lists, open frameworks at their reopening, dynamic markets and NHS approved provider lists. Bid for frameworks when they are advertised, with evidence written for that council. Build private and direct payment clients alongside.

This guide covers England. Councils buy home care under the Procurement Act 2023, and the NHS buys health care, including Continuing Healthcare at home, under the Provider Selection Regime. Wales and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements. It is general information, not legal advice.

At a Glance: Domiciliary Care Contracts in 2026

Who Buys	Councils, for people eligible under the Care Act 2014; NHS integrated care boards, for NHS Continuing Healthcare; and people who pay privately or with direct payments
Council Rules	Procurement Act 2023, for procurements started from 24 February 2025, usually under the light touch regime
NHS Rules	Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023, since 1 January 2024
Where It Is Advertised	Find a Tender, now the central digital platform, with the tender run on the buyer's own e-tendering portal
Before You Bid	CQC registration for personal care, and registration on the central digital platform
Common Models	Frameworks, open frameworks, dynamic markets, older DPS, spot purchase, zoned or block contracts, NHS approved provider lists
How Bids Are Judged	Often mainly on quality: several 2025 to 2026 home care tenders scored quality at 90 to 100%. Some councils still weight price heavily
What Councils Pay	An average of £25.05 an hour in 2026/27, against a Homecare Association minimum price of £34.42

Source: Cabinet Office Procurement Act guidance; NHS England, Provider Selection Regime; ADASS Spring Survey 2026; Find a Tender notices. Full list under Sources.

The basics

What Are Domiciliary Care Contracts?

A domiciliary care contract is an agreement to provide personal care and support to people in their own homes. The phrase covers two quite different things, and it helps to keep them apart.

Commissioning contracts

With a Council or the NHS

The council or integrated care board buys care for people it funds. You win a place through a tender, an approved list or a direct award, then receive packages. This guide is mostly about these.

Client contracts

With the Person You Support

When someone pays for their own care, in full or in part, CQC regulation 19 requires a written statement of the terms, the fees and how to pay, where practicable before care starts. This is your service user contract. More on private clients.

Source: CQC, regulation 19; Care Act 2014, section 5 (councils' duty to shape the local care market).

Contract types

Types of Domiciliary Care Contracts

There are eight main routes to work, seven of them through councils and the NHS. The Procurement Act 2023 added open frameworks and dynamic markets and stopped new dynamic purchasing systems, so many older guides are now out of date.

Route	Who Buys	How You Get On	Guaranteed Work	Good to Know
Spot Purchase	Council or ICB, one package at a time	Approved provider list or direct approach to the brokerage team	None. Each package is offered separately	Often the first route for a new provider
Framework Agreement	Council	Tender when the framework opens; closed until the next round	Usually none. Packages are called off	Bid when it opens. Light touch frameworks have no maximum term
Open Framework	Council	Tender at launch, then at each reopening: at least once in the first three years, then at least every five	Usually none	Good for new providers, who can join at a reopening
Dynamic Market	Council	Apply at any time; the number of suppliers cannot be capped	None. Contracts are competed among members	Good for new providers
Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS)	Council, set up under the old 2015 rules	Existing systems only, often open to new members	None	Still live in places, but must close by its own end date or 23 February 2029, whichever is earlier
Zoned or Block Contract	Council	Competitive tender for a zone or a set number of hours	Agreed hours or a whole patch	Best suited to established providers with capacity
NHS Continuing Healthcare Contract	Integrated care board, under the Provider Selection Regime	Approved provider list, any qualified provider scheme or competitive process	Often none. Some are zero value contracts	Open to new providers who meet the eligibility checks
Private and Direct Payment Clients	The person, their family or their representative	Your own marketing, referrals and reputation	Depends on you	Every provider; a written statement of terms is required

Source: Cabinet Office, frameworks; dynamic markets; transitional arrangements; light touch contracts; NHS England, Provider Selection Regime.

Thinking about live-in care? Some councils buy it as its own lot, as Barnet did in its 2026 framework. Starting out? Read how to start a domiciliary care agency first.

Council route

How to Get Council Contracts for Domiciliary Care

Councils buy home care for people they fund under the Care Act 2014. Since 24 February 2025 new procurements follow the Procurement Act 2023, and home care is usually a light touch contract, which gives councils more freedom over how they buy.

1
Read the Market Position Statement
It sets out the areas, client groups and services the council needs most.
2
Find Out How It Buys Home Care Now
A framework, an open framework, a dynamic market, an older DPS, zones, or spot purchase off-framework.
3
Get Onto Any Route That Is Open
Ask the commissioning or brokerage team how to join the spot or approved provider list while you wait for a tender.
4
Go to Provider Forums and Market Engagement Events
Councils publish early market engagement notices before big tenders. Shropshire did in February 2026 for a community based care framework, covering home care and day care, estimated at £540 million including VAT.
5
Bid When the Tender Opens
Answer for that council and that patch, with evidence, not a generic pack.
6
Deliver Well and Report on Time
Call-offs, extensions and future awards follow performance and CQC ratings.

A council commissioning team meeting with a care provider

What the Care Act Asks of Councils

Statutory guidance says fee levels should let providers pay staff at least the national minimum wage, including time spent travelling between visits, train staff and make a reasonable return (paragraphs 4.30 and 4.31). Councils must not set fees below what is sustainable for providers in the long term (paragraph 4.35).

Source: Care and support statutory guidance, chapter 4.

Source: Cabinet Office, light touch contracts; Shropshire Council, preliminary market engagement notice (February 2026).

NHS route

How to Win NHS Domiciliary Care Contracts

Integrated care boards buy home care for people eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare. That is health care, so it falls under the Provider Selection Regime, in force since 1 January 2024, not the Procurement Act.

The Five Ways an ICB Can Award

Direct Award A: Only the existing provider can deliver the service
Direct Award B: Patients choose; the number of providers is not limited and every provider meeting the requirements is offered a contract
Direct Award C: An existing provider is performing well and the service is not changing much
Most Suitable Provider: The ICB can identify the best provider without competing
Competitive Process: Used otherwise, and for frameworks

Decisions weigh five key criteria: quality and innovation; value; integration, collaboration and sustainability; access, inequalities and choice; and social value.

Example · 2025

Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB

Any qualified provider contract for Continuing Healthcare at home, run as a competitive process. No cap on providers, no guaranteed volume, for 36 months from April 2026. Providers needed a CQC registered location within 3 miles of the ICB area.

Example · Awarded 2024

West Yorkshire ICB, Leeds

Direct award B from an approved provider DPS, valued at about £15 million a year. Each package is offered first to the provider ranked highest on its CQC rating, so your rating decides who is offered work first.

Source: NHS England, Provider Selection Regime statutory guidance; Find a Tender 074536-2025; Find a Tender 012869-2025.

What changed

The Procurement Act 2023: What Changed for Home Care Providers

The Act applies to procurements that started on or after 24 February 2025. Tenders that began earlier under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 carry on under the old rules, and so do call-offs from old frameworks until they end.

Topic	Before (2015 Rules)	Now (Procurement Act 2023)
Where Notices Appear	Find a Tender for higher value, Contracts Finder for lower value	Find a Tender, the central digital platform, for all notices, including below threshold ones
Your Company Details	A selection questionnaire filled in for every tender	Register once on the central digital platform and share your details with each buyer
Flexible Joining	Dynamic purchasing systems	Dynamic markets and open frameworks. Existing DPS close at their end date or 23 February 2029 at the latest
How the Winner Is Chosen	Most economically advantageous tender	Most advantageous tender
Procedures	Open, restricted, competitive dialogue and others	Open procedure or a competitive flexible procedure the buyer designs
Feedback	Standstill letters	Assessment summaries for each supplier whose tender was assessed, before the award notice
Standstill	10 days	8 working days, but none is mandatory for light touch contracts such as home care
Paying Suppliers	30 day terms in public contracts	30 day payment terms implied into public contracts and regulated below threshold contracts (sections 68 and 88)
Small Providers	No general legal duty	A legal duty to have regard to barriers SMEs face and consider removing them (section 12)
Personal Choice	No specific direct award ground	User choice contracts: a council can award directly where the person or their carer prefers a provider, or only one can meet their needs, and a competition would not be in the person's best interests

Source: Cabinet Office guidance on the central digital platform, award notices and standstill, competitive procedures, below threshold contracts; Procurement Act 2023, section 12, section 88 and schedule 5.

Light Touch Threshold

£663,540, including VAT. It did not change on 1 January 2026, when some other thresholds fell.

Below Threshold Notices

If a council advertises an opportunity worth £30,000 or more including VAT (£12,000 for central government and NHS trusts), it must first publish a tender notice on Find a Tender. Advertised or not, it must publish a contract details notice after the award.

Debarment and Exclusions

Buyers must check the central debarment list. They must exclude suppliers caught by a mandatory ground and may exclude on a discretionary ground, generally looking back five years, unless the supplier shows the issue is unlikely to happen again.

Source: PPN 023, 2026 thresholds; Cabinet Office, exclusions. See also our Procurement Act reference.

Finding work

Where to Find Domiciliary Care Tenders

Home care tenders in England are advertised on Find a Tender and run on the buyer's own portal. Register on the central digital platform first: buyers draw your core details from it and only ask questions specific to their tender.

Find a Tender

Every notice for procurements under the Procurement Act 2023, from early market engagement to contract award. Set up alerts for home care, domiciliary care and care at home.

Council E-Tendering Portals

The notice links to the portal where the documents and questions sit, for example ProContract, In-Tend or Delta eSourcing. Register with each council you want to work for.

NHS E-Procurement Portals

Integrated care boards run Provider Selection Regime processes on their own portals; Hertfordshire and West Essex used CarePulse in 2025.

Contracts Finder

Now only for procurements that started under the old 2015 rules, before 24 February 2025.

Market Position Statements

Each council publishes how it wants its home care market to develop, which tells you what is coming.

Our Live Tenders Feed

Open care tenders across the UK, updated daily, with deadlines and lots.

Source: Find a Tender; Cabinet Office, transitional arrangements.

See Open Home Care Tenders Now

Live council and NHS care tenders, with deadlines, values and lots.

All Care Tenders Home Care Tenders

New to tendering? Read what a tender is in health and social care.

Step by step

The Domiciliary Care Tender Process

Under the Procurement Act 2023 a council home care tender usually runs in these eight stages. The council sets the exact timetable in its tender documents.

1
Early Market Engagement
The council publishes a preliminary market engagement notice and holds events to test its plans. Go, and ask questions.
2
Tender Notice
The opportunity appears on Find a Tender, with a link to the council's portal and the deadline.
3
Register and Share Your Details
Make sure your central digital platform record is complete and current, then share it with the buyer.
4
Clarification Questions
Ask before the clarification deadline. Answers are usually shared with all bidders.
5
Write and Submit
Conditions of participation, quality questions, social value and, if scored, price. Upload before the deadline; late bids are rejected.
6
Evaluation
Panels score each answer against the published criteria. Some tenders add presentations or site visits.
7
Award and Feedback
Each supplier whose tender was assessed gets an assessment summary of its scores. Light touch contracts have no mandatory standstill period.
8
Contract Details and Mobilisation
The council publishes a contract details notice, within 120 days for light touch contracts. You prepare to take packages.

Source: Cabinet Office, light touch contracts; award notices and standstill.

Before you bid

Are You Ready to Bid? The Eligibility Checklist

Each tender sets its own conditions. These are the ones home care tenders ask for most often, so check them before you spend time writing.

CQC registration for personal care, at a location that can serve the area
A complete, current record on the central digital platform
Insurance at the levels the tender asks for
Accounts, or alternative evidence of financial standing if you are new
An office base and staff within the distance the council requires
A recruitment and retention plan built on UK recruitment
Electronic call monitoring, which many councils now require
Policies, business continuity and safeguarding procedures for that service

Can a Newly Registered Provider Bid?

Sometimes. There is no legal rule against it, but many councils set a minimum CQC rating. Derby required Good or Outstanding in 2025, with narrow exceptions; others, such as NHS approved provider lists, check eligibility instead. Read the conditions of participation before you start.

Staffing After the Visa Change

Overseas recruitment of care workers closed on 22 July 2025. Applications from care workers already in the UK can continue until 22 July 2028, subject to conditions. Tender answers on workforce need to show how you will recruit and keep staff locally.

Source: Home Office, HC 997 explanatory memorandum.

Modern Slavery Statements

A published statement is only a legal requirement at £36 million turnover or more, but many councils still ask how you prevent modern slavery in your service and supply chain.

Source: Modern Slavery Act 2015, section 54.

Not registered with CQC yet? See our CQC registration package.

How bids are judged

How Home Care Tenders Are Scored: Six Real Examples

Price often matters less than providers expect, but not always. In five of these six real home care tenders and awards, quality, eligibility or the CQC rating decided the outcome, and three councils fixed the price or did not score it. Barnet weighted price at 70%. Always read the award criteria first.

Buyer	What It Bought	How It Chose	Worth Knowing
Harrow Council, 2026	Open framework, light touch. £160 million excluding VAT, up to 8 years from September 2026 including extensions, 7 lots	Quality 90%, social value 10%. Price not scored	Up to 4 lots per provider
Barnet Council, 2026	Home and community support framework, light touch. £36 million including VAT, November 2026 to November 2032, 3 lots including live-in care	Price 70%, quality and social value 30%	A reminder that some councils still weight price heavily
Derby City Council, 2025	Flexible framework, light touch. About £161 million, February 2026 to January 2030, extendable to 2034, 5 lots	Quality 100%	CQC Good or Outstanding required (Requires Improvement only if the last inspection was over three years ago, with an improvement plan), and an office within 10 miles of the city boundary, or one in place by contract start
Bracknell Forest Council, 2025	Reopening of a 2022 home care framework under the old 2015 rules (light touch), to September 2027	Quality 100%, at a fixed price	CQC Good or Outstanding expected; employer's liability £5m, public liability £10m
Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB, 2025	Any qualified provider contract for Continuing Healthcare at home, under the Provider Selection Regime	Every provider meeting the criteria is awarded a place	No cap on providers, no guaranteed volume
West Yorkshire ICB (Leeds), awarded December 2024	Direct award B from an approved provider DPS. The notice gives £15 million, and elsewhere about £15 million a year over 3 years	Each package offered first to the provider with the best CQC rating	DPS open to new providers until May 2027

Source: Find a Tender notices, linked from each buyer's name, checked 18 October 2026.

Answer the Question Asked

Panels score against the criteria they published. Mirror the wording and cover every point in the question.

Prove It with Evidence

Use your own figures, examples and outcomes. A new provider can use the manager's track record and local plans.

Write for That Council

Name the zones, the client groups and the local priorities from the market position statement.

Harrow weighted social value at 10%. The 10% minimum in PPN 002 applies to central government departments and their agencies, not councils, but some councils use a similar weighting. Read our social value guide.

A care provider team preparing a tender at a desk

Starting out

How New Providers Win Their First Contract

Most new home care agencies do not start with a big framework. These routes are more realistic in the first year.

Spot purchase work from council brokerage teams, off-framework
Dynamic markets and older DPS that accept new members
Open frameworks at their next reopening
NHS Continuing Healthcare approved provider lists
Lower value tenders, where councils cannot use a separate suitability stage
Private and direct payment clients, which build the track record tenders ask for

Source: Cabinet Office, below threshold contracts; dynamic markets.

Money

What Councils Pay for Home Care in 2026/27

Councils pay an average of £25.05 an hour for home care in 2026/27, a 5% rise on 2025/26. The Homecare Association puts the minimum sustainable price at £34.42. Know the gap before you bid.

£25.05

Councils' average hourly rate, 2026/27

£34.42

Homecare Association minimum price per hour, 2026/27

£12.71

National Living Wage from April 2026

15%

Employer National Insurance, above £5,000 a year, from April 2025

Source: ADASS Spring Survey 2026; GOV.UK, National Living Wage; HMRC, rates and thresholds 2026 to 2027.

Published Council Rates, 2026/27

Council	Hourly Rate	Conditions
Bury	£24.30 standard; £28.53 enhanced	Enhanced rate for framework providers, paid on actual contact time and tied to electronic call monitoring; standard rate where pay is not based on actual delivery
North Tyneside	£23.27 to £28.11	Main homecare rates; depend on the zone and whether care is general or enhanced
Solihull	£25.84; £26.84 in low density areas	Low density rate for specific postcodes
Oxfordshire	Up to £30.87	Published ceiling rate

Source: Each council's published 2026/27 rates, linked from its name.

What Your Hourly Rate Has to Cover

Care worker pay at or above the National Living Wage, including travel time between visits
Employer National Insurance, pension and holiday pay
Mileage, training, supervision and sickness cover
Office, management, electronic call monitoring and insurance
A margin to reinvest and absorb risk

Check the Small Print

Some councils pay on actual minutes recorded by electronic call monitoring, not planned time, as Bury does. Some rates vary by zone or rurality. Under the Procurement Act 2023, contracts must require the buyer to pay valid, undisputed invoices within 30 days (sections 68 and 88).

Source: Procurement Act 2023, section 68; section 88.

Private and direct payment clients

Winning Private Clients Alongside Contracts

Private and direct payment clients give you income you control and the track record tenders ask for. They also bring their own legal duties.

Your Client Contract

CQC regulation 19 requires a written statement of terms, fees and how to pay for anyone paying in full or in part, where practicable before care starts. Consumer law, including the Consumer Rights Act 2015, applies too.

Direct Payments

People with council direct payments choose and pay their own provider. Your contract is with them, not the council, so your terms, rates and invoicing need to be clear.

Where Clients Come From

Google Business Profile and reviews, care directories, GPs, district nurses and hospital discharge teams, local community groups and word of mouth. Many providers we speak to find pay-per-lead sites cost more than they return.

Source: CQC, regulation 19; Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Read our full guide to getting private care clients and our client acquisition service.

Case studies

Tenders We Have Helped Providers Bid For

Real results from providers we have written tenders with, including the ones that did not succeed, because the lessons matter as much as the wins.

Tender writing
Living Plus Care Services
Home care wins include Hertfordshire County Council's Support at Home spot providers framework and Cambridgeshire County Council's home and community support DPS.
Won 6 of 7 tendersRead the Living Plus Care Services case study
Tender writing
Light Health Care
Barnsley Council Support to Live at Home, and Norfolk County Council adult life opportunities framework (lot 2). A Kirklees bid was lost because the required experience was not fully shown.
Won 2 of 3 tendersRead the Light Health Care case study
Tender writing
Morah Services
Passed the procurement specific questionnaire stage of Essex County Council Live at Home 2025 in August 2025. Also won a place on Essex's 2025 supported living framework; a Buckinghamshire bid was unsuccessful.
1 won, 1 shortlistedRead the Morah Services case study
Tender writing
Care and Grace
Norfolk County Council adult life opportunities framework (lot 2), and a Somerset specialist adult support DPS.
Won bothRead the Care and Grace case study

Your next tender

We read the specification, check you can meet the conditions, and write answers built from your evidence.

Tender Writing

Watch: Winning and Running Care Contracts

Six videos from our team on registering as a supplier, getting paid on council contracts and finding private clients alongside tenders.

Government Contracts Are Impossible Without CDP Registration
How to register on the Central Digital Platform and get the supplier share code councils and NHS buyers ask for under the Procurement Act 2023.
One Quarterly Update Saves You Everything
Why your Central Digital Platform details (insurance, directors, address) must stay current before buyers check them.
Council Won't Pay Your Care Agency? Here's Exactly How to Make Them
Your right to be paid within 30 days on public contracts, statutory interest on late payment, and how to escalate an unpaid council invoice.
CQC Registered But No Clients? Here's What Real Providers Are Doing
Ways new home care and supported living providers build referrals and private clients while working towards council contracts.
I Spent Thousands on Bark for Care Leads: Here's What Happened
What UK care providers told us about paying for leads on Bark, and the channels that tend to bring private home care clients instead.
Five Years. Zero Clients. One Care Provider's Bark Story
A short summary of why pay-per-lead sites rarely suit home care, in providers' own words.

How Care Sync Experts Can Help

We check whether you meet a tender's conditions before you spend time on it, then write quality and social value answers from your own policies, staffing and outcomes. If you are not yet registered, we take you through CQC registration first: 98% of the applications we support are approved first time, across more than 1,200 providers in 10 years.

Tender Writing
Live Care Tenders
CQC Registration Package: fixed £4,000 + VAT

Book Consultation

Sources

Every rule, rate and example in this guide comes from these pages, checked on 18 October 2026. Tender notices are examples and may have closed. This guide is general information, not legal advice.

Law and Statutory Guidance

Cabinet Office Guidance on the Procurement Act

Live and Recent Tender Notices

Rates, Costs and Workforce

Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

Frequently asked questions

Register with CQC for personal care and register your organisation on the central digital platform (Find a Tender). Then find out how each council and integrated care board near you buys home care, join the routes that are open now, such as spot purchase lists, dynamic markets, open frameworks at their reopening and NHS approved provider lists, and bid for frameworks when they are advertised. Build private and direct payment clients alongside.

The main types are spot purchase, framework agreements, open frameworks, dynamic markets, older dynamic purchasing systems, zoned or block contracts, NHS Continuing Healthcare contracts awarded under the Provider Selection Regime, and private or direct payment contracts with the person receiving care.

A spot purchase is a single care package bought on its own, usually because the council or integrated care board needs a provider outside its main framework. There is no guaranteed volume. For new providers it is often the first route in: ask the council's commissioning or brokerage team how to join its approved provider list.

A framework is an agreement with a group of providers who have passed a tender, from which the council then awards care packages. A closed framework cannot be joined until it is retendered. Under the Procurement Act 2023 a council can instead use an open framework, which must reopen at least once in its first three years and then at least every five years, for up to eight years in total.

Not new ones. The Procurement Act 2023 does not allow new dynamic purchasing systems. Systems set up under the old 2015 rules can carry on until their own end date or 23 February 2029, whichever is earlier, and some still accept new providers. Councils now use dynamic markets, which must stay open to new suppliers at any time, or open frameworks.

No. The Provider Selection Regime, in force since 1 January 2024, covers health care services bought by NHS bodies, such as NHS Continuing Healthcare at home, and some local authority health services such as public health. Social care that councils buy, including home care, falls under the Procurement Act 2023.

On Find a Tender, the government's central digital platform, which carries notices for procurements under the Procurement Act 2023, including lower value ones of £30,000 or more including VAT that councils choose to advertise. The tender itself runs on the buyer's own e-tendering portal. Contracts Finder now only covers procurements that started under the old rules before 24 February 2025.

Sometimes. There is no legal rule against it, but many councils set a minimum CQC rating in their conditions of participation; Derby City Council required Good or Outstanding in 2025, with narrow exceptions. New providers often start with spot purchase work, dynamic markets, open frameworks at reopening, NHS approved provider lists and private clients, then bid for frameworks once rated.

Against the award criteria published in the tender, usually quality, social value and sometimes price. Many home care tenders are quality led, but not all: Harrow's 2026 open framework scored quality at 90% and social value at 10% with no price score, and Derby's 2025 framework scored quality at 100%. Some councils fix the price so that quality decides, but others weight price heavily: Barnet's 2026 home and community support framework scored price at 70%.

The ADASS Spring Survey 2026 found councils' average composite rate for home care in 2026/27 was £25.05 an hour, up 5% on 2025/26. The Homecare Association's minimum price for 2026/27 is £34.42 an hour. Rates vary widely; for example Solihull pays £25.84 and Oxfordshire's ceiling is £30.87.

Integrated care boards buy home care for people eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare under the Provider Selection Regime. Watch for approved provider lists, any qualified provider schemes and competitive processes on Find a Tender and the ICB's portal. Some, such as Leeds, offer packages first to the provider with the best CQC rating.

Yes, if you want to bid for public contracts under the Procurement Act 2023. Suppliers register on the central digital platform, part of Find a Tender, and keep their core information up to date, including basic details, financial standing, connected persons and exclusion grounds. Buyers draw on this information when you bid.

Not a mandatory one. Under the Procurement Act 2023 the standard standstill period is eight working days after the contract award notice, but light touch contracts, which include most home care, are exempt. Each supplier whose tender was assessed still receives an assessment summary explaining its scores.

Through a strong Google Business Profile and reviews, care directories, referrals from GPs, district nurses and hospital discharge teams, local community groups and word of mouth. People with direct payments can also choose you as their provider. Give every paying client a written statement of terms and fees, as CQC regulation 19 requires.

CQC regulation 19 requires a written statement of the terms and conditions, the fees and how to pay them, for anyone who pays in full or in part, where practicable before care starts. It should also cover the services provided, visit times, how changes and cancellations work and how to complain, and it must be fair under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

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How to Get Domiciliary Care Contracts in 2026

How Do You Get Domiciliary Care Contracts?

At a Glance: Domiciliary Care Contracts in 2026

What Are Domiciliary Care Contracts?

With a Council or the NHS

With the Person You Support

Types of Domiciliary Care Contracts

How to Get Council Contracts for Domiciliary Care

Read the Market Position Statement

Find Out How It Buys Home Care Now

Get Onto Any Route That Is Open

Go to Provider Forums and Market Engagement Events

Bid When the Tender Opens

Deliver Well and Report on Time

What the Care Act Asks of Councils

How to Win NHS Domiciliary Care Contracts

The Five Ways an ICB Can Award

Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB

West Yorkshire ICB, Leeds

The Procurement Act 2023: What Changed for Home Care Providers

Light Touch Threshold

Below Threshold Notices

Debarment and Exclusions

Where to Find Domiciliary Care Tenders

Find a Tender

Council E-Tendering Portals

NHS E-Procurement Portals

Contracts Finder

Market Position Statements

Our Live Tenders Feed

See Open Home Care Tenders Now

The Domiciliary Care Tender Process

Early Market Engagement

Tender Notice

Register and Share Your Details

Clarification Questions

Write and Submit

Evaluation

Award and Feedback

Contract Details and Mobilisation

Are You Ready to Bid? The Eligibility Checklist

Can a Newly Registered Provider Bid?

Staffing After the Visa Change

Modern Slavery Statements

How Home Care Tenders Are Scored: Six Real Examples

Answer the Question Asked

Prove It with Evidence

Write for That Council

How New Providers Win Their First Contract

What Councils Pay for Home Care in 2026/27

Published Council Rates, 2026/27

What Your Hourly Rate Has to Cover

Check the Small Print

Winning Private Clients Alongside Contracts

Your Client Contract

Direct Payments

Where Clients Come From

Tenders We Have Helped Providers Bid For

Living Plus Care Services

Light Health Care

Morah Services

Care and Grace

Watch: Winning and Running Care Contracts

Government Contracts Are Impossible Without CDP Registration

One Quarterly Update Saves You Everything

Council Won't Pay Your Care Agency? Here's Exactly How to Make Them

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