Frequently asked questions about registering a care service

Yes, if you will carry on a regulated activity in England. For homecare and supported living that is usually personal care. CQC says it is an offence to carry on a regulated activity without being registered, so you cannot start delivering care while you wait. In Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland you register with that nation's regulator instead.

Introductory agencies that only match care workers with families, and have no ongoing role such as arranging rotas, do not need to register.

You need a legal entity to register, such as a limited company, and for an organisation a registered manager and a nominated individual, each with an enhanced DBS check. You also need premises you can legally use, an insurance quote or certificate, a statement of purpose, and the policies and documents CQC lists for your type of service.

For homecare and supported living, CQC also asks for a business plan and financial forecast, evidence of legal occupancy, service user guides and a staff training plan. CQC rejects applications that are incomplete or inaccurate when they arrive.

CQC says registration can take a few months, sometimes more. The biggest delays come from incomplete applications: CQC now rejects applications that are incomplete or inaccurate when they arrive, and a corrected application counts as new and loses its place in the queue. Getting it right first time is the quickest route.

CQC brought in this check for new homecare applications on 1 July 2025, and extended it on 9 February 2026 to care homes, supported living and services for autistic people and people with a learning disability.

Allow time before you apply, too: CQC says an enhanced DBS check can take up to 60 working days, and you cannot submit without it.

CQC does not charge a fee to apply. Once registered you pay an annual fee, first invoiced in the month your registration takes effect. For homecare and supported living it is £239 for each location plus £54.305 for each person you support, under CQC's 2019/20 fees scheme, which still applies.

For example, a location supporting 20 people pays about £1,325 a year. CQC counts the people you supported over a seven day period and sends an invoice with the exact amount.

In our experience it is detailed rather than difficult. CQC wants evidence that the right people, documents and systems are in place before you start, and that they fit the service you will actually run. Most problems come from incomplete applications or template documents that do not match the service.

Because CQC now rejects incomplete applications on arrival, preparation matters more than ever. 98% of the registration applications we prepare are approved first time.

You prepare first: your legal entity, registered manager, DBS checks, premises, insurance and documents. You then email CQC's application forms. CQC checks the application is complete and correct and rejects it if not. It then assesses whether your service will meet the regulations, which can include a fit person interview and a site visit, and emails you its decision.

CQC may also hold a separate discussion with your nominated individual. If it proposes to refuse your application or add conditions, it first sends a notice of proposal and you can respond.

Every applicant sends a statement of purpose, a public and employer's liability insurance quote or certificate, and policies on complaints, consent, equality and human rights, governance, infection control, medicines, recruitment and safeguarding. Homecare and supported living services also send a business plan and financial forecast, evidence of legal occupancy, service user guides and a staff training plan.

Supported living applicants also complete an extra form. CQC can ask for further documents during its assessment, and your application may be delayed if you cannot provide them.

A statement of purpose is a legal document that tells CQC what services you provide, who they are for, where you provide them and your aims and objectives. Every provider sends one with its application. You must keep it under review and send CQC written details of any revision within 28 days.

It is one of the first documents CQC reads, so it should describe the service you will actually run, not a template.

If you will be a registered person, meaning an individual provider, partner or registered manager, you need an enhanced DBS check with the right barred list, countersigned by CQC. CQC does not accept the DBS Update Service or third party checks, rejects certificates over 12 months old, and says a check can take up to 60 working days.

Your nominated individual also needs an enhanced DBS check before you apply: CQC returns applications without one. Start early, because you cannot submit until you have the certificates.

Yes. You send a public and employer's liability insurance quote or certificate with your application. A quote is enough when you apply, but employer's liability insurance is a legal requirement once you employ staff, so have your cover in place before you start providing care.

Most homecare agencies also take out professional indemnity cover. We can introduce you to specialist care insurance brokers.

If CQC is not satisfied, it sends a notice of proposal setting out its reasons. You then have 28 calendar days to send your representations before it makes a final decision. If you disagree with the final decision, you can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal.

An application rejected at the first check for missing or incorrect documents is different: you correct it and apply again, and it counts as a new application.

No. CQC registers a legal entity, so a registration cannot move to another company. If you sell the business or change legal entity, the incoming provider must apply to CQC, and CQC completes its registration once both providers' legal representatives confirm the sale has completed.

If only the shares in your company change hands, the company itself stays the registered provider. You must still tell CQC when a director joins or leaves, or when you appoint a new nominated individual.

The law names no qualification for owners, but CQC must be satisfied that everyone named on your application is fit for their role. Your registered manager must have the qualifications, competence, skills and experience to manage the service. Most hold, or are working towards, a Level 5 diploma in leading and managing adult care.

If you will manage the service yourself, CQC will look closely at your care and management experience at interview. Directors of a company must also meet the fit and proper person requirement.

There is no single figure, because it depends on your service, your area and how fast you grow. Budget for company set up, insurance, DBS checks, policies, premises, care software, recruitment and the CQC annual fee, plus money to pay staff before your first invoices are paid. There is no CQC fee to apply.

Our setup packages range from £500 to £8,500 plus VAT, depending on the service you want to register and how much you want us to do.

It depends on your area, the type of care and who pays. Councils set their own hourly rates for the care they buy, and private clients usually pay more. Each year the Homecare Association publishes a Minimum Price for Homecare: the lowest rate it says covers legal careworker pay, travel time, mileage and the cost of running a compliant service.

Our advice: work your price out from your own costs, not from what competitors charge.

No law says you must, but most people do. CQC registers the legal entity that runs the service, which can be you as an individual, a partnership or an organisation such as a limited company. Decide first and apply in that exact name, because a registration cannot be moved to a different company later.

Often, yes. CQC needs evidence that you have legal permission to use the address for your type of service. If you do not own it, you need written permission from your landlord or mortgage provider that names your type of service. CQC does not accept virtual offices or PO boxes without a full physical address.

A mortgage statement, or general permission for business use that does not mention your service, is not enough. CQC may also look at your office equipment, accessibility and how you will keep information confidential. In our experience, many new homecare agencies start from a home office.

Plan for several months. You cannot provide a regulated activity until CQC has registered you, and CQC says registration can take a few months. Use the time to recruit, set up your systems and build relationships with your council and local referrers, so you are ready to start the day your registration comes through.

Not usually, if they work alone, are employed directly by the person they care for or a relative, and work wholly under that person's direction. Carers who work in partnership with others need to register. So does an agency that keeps an ongoing role, such as arranging rotas or continuing to charge for a carer's time.

If you want to employ carers and send them to clients, you need to register.

There is no CQC rule that says carers must be employed, but CQC's recruitment rules apply to everyone who works in your service, including people on a contract for services. Employment status depends on how the work is really done, such as who decides when, where and how it is done, not just on what the contract calls it.

Most homecare agencies employ their carers. Speak to an accountant or employment adviser before you decide.

Not from abroad. Since 22 July 2025 there has been no route to bring new care workers or senior care workers to the UK from overseas. With a sponsor licence you can still sponsor people already in the UK, such as care workers changing employer. In England you must be CQC registered and carrying on a regulated activity to sponsor them.

Until 22 July 2028 you can also sponsor someone switching from another visa if they have worked for you legally in a care role for at least three months. Plan to recruit locally.

No. A sponsor licence is only needed if you want to sponsor workers on visas, and it is separate from CQC registration. It works the other way round: to sponsor care workers or senior care workers in England, you must already hold active CQC registration and be carrying on a regulated activity.

Every CQC registered provider must make sure its staff receive training on learning disability and autism appropriate to their role, a legal requirement from the Health and Care Act 2022. The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training is the government's preferred and recommended package, and the code of practice on this training commenced on 6 September 2025.

Build it into your staff training plan. We do not deliver staff training, but we help you write a training plan that covers it.

If you are already registered for personal care, you can usually add supported living at your existing location without a variation application. You update your statement of purpose to describe the supported living service and send CQC written details of the change within 28 days. A new location, or a change to a condition, needs an application to vary your registration.

Our supported living add on does this for existing providers for £1,500 including VAT: a new statement of purpose, the notification to CQC, and answers to CQC's questions.

No. CQC does not regulate accommodation on its own, so there is nothing to register if you only provide housing. In supported living, the housing and the care are kept separate under different agreements, often with different organisations. If you want to provide the care too, you register for personal care.

If housing and care are sold as one package, CQC may treat the service as a care home, which is a different regulated activity.

CQC says you must only apply when everything is in place to start your service. For supported living it registers the care, not the house, but it will want to see a genuine supported living model with housing and care kept separate, and evidence that you can legally use your office. Have your housing arrangements clear before you apply.

For adult care, yes in law, because the regulations do not name a qualification. CQC must be satisfied you have the qualifications, competence, skills and experience the role needs, and it tests this at interview. In practice most registered managers hold, or are working towards, a Level 5 diploma in leading and managing adult care.

Children's homes in England are different: the manager needs the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare, or a qualification the provider considers equivalent, within three years of starting.

Yes, if you have the right skills, qualifications and experience. Many small agencies start this way, and CQC says registered managers can act as nominated individuals in certain circumstances, normally where the organisation is small. CQC assesses you for both roles, so expect questions about how you will check your own work and who covers when you are away.

If your provider is an organisation, such as a limited company, you must name a nominated individual. They must be employed as a director, manager or secretary of the organisation and be responsible for supervising how the regulated activity is managed. Individuals and partnerships do not need one. Your nominated individual needs an enhanced DBS check before you apply.

The provider must make sure they are of good character and have the qualifications, competence, skills and experience to supervise the management of the service.

If your provider is a company or other body, every director, or person in an equivalent role, must be fit and proper under Regulation 5: of good character, with the right qualifications, competence, skills and experience, able to do the role, not responsible for serious misconduct or mismanagement in a regulated activity, and not unfit under Schedule 4.

Schedule 4 covers matters such as being an undischarged bankrupt or being on a barred list. It is the provider's job to check this and keep the evidence.

It is CQC's interview to check that you are fit to be registered: that you understand your role, the regulations and how you will keep people safe in practice. CQC can hold it by phone, online or in person. Registered managers are interviewed, and nominated individuals may have a separate discussion with CQC.

Our advice: prepare with real examples from your own plans rather than learning policies by heart.

Expect questions on safeguarding, safe recruitment, medicines, care planning, staffing your calls, consent and mental capacity, complaints, the events you must notify CQC about, and how you will check quality. CQC wants to hear how you would act in real situations, not a recital of your policies.

Our advice: answer with examples from your own plans and the people you will support.

CQC says manager registration can take a few months, and the manager cannot manage the regulated activity until CQC confirms it. They need a CQC countersigned enhanced DBS check issued in the past 12 months, and CQC will contact them to arrange an interview. Apply as soon as your new manager is in post.

Once registered, you must tell CQC about certain events, including the death of a person using the service, serious injuries, allegations of abuse, incidents the police are involved in, events that stop the service running safely, outcomes of Deprivation of Liberty applications, and a registered manager's absence of 28 days or more.

You must also tell CQC about changes such as appointing a new nominated individual or a director joining or leaving.

CIW says initial applications can generally take up to 14 weeks, and longer if it needs more information. You register a domiciliary support service with Care Inspectorate Wales through CIW Online, under the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016, and name a responsible individual, who for a company CIW expects to be a director.

You list each Regional Partnership Board area you will work in, and each area becomes a condition of your registration. Your service manager must be registered with Social Care Wales.

You apply to RQIA, the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority, through its Web Portal. Your agency must meet the Domiciliary Care Agencies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 and the minimum standards, and your registered manager must meet the qualification and experience requirements and hold an AccessNI enhanced check.

Under the Northern Ireland fees regulations, the registration, annual and variation fees for a domiciliary care agency are set at nil.

Ofsted says it is likely to be several months before you receive a decision, because it is handling an exceptionally high number of applications. The provider applies on form SC1, and people in management or governance roles, such as the manager, responsible individual or directors, complete an SC2 where required. You pay a registration fee, then the same fee each year.

Expect Ofsted to look closely at your statement of purpose, premises and location assessment. Supported accommodation for looked after children and care leavers aged 16 and 17 must also be registered with Ofsted.

In England, the manager needs the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare, or a qualification the provider considers equivalent, within three years of starting. They also need at least two of the last five years in a role relevant to children's residential care, and at least one year supervising care staff.

Councils mostly buy homecare and supported living through frameworks, approved provider lists and dynamic markets, which open to new providers at set times. Register on Find a Tender and on your councils' portals, and read each tender's selection criteria: some only ask that you are CQC registered, while others want a rating or a track record.

Dynamic markets replaced dynamic purchasing systems for procurements started under the Procurement Act 2023 from 24 February 2025. Systems set up before then can run until they end.

In our experience, most private clients come through local word of mouth, GPs, hospital discharge teams, social workers and online listings. Be clear about your prices, minimum call lengths and contract terms from the start, and give every client your service user guide. Good care that families talk about is still the strongest marketing there is.

Prices vary a lot across the market, so compare what is included, not just the headline figure. Our setup packages range from £500 to £8,500 plus VAT, depending on the service you want to register and how much you want us to do. Each package page sets out exactly what is included.

CQC interview preparation on its own is £750 including VAT, and adding supported living to an existing personal care registration is £1,500 including VAT.

No, and be wary of anyone who does. The regulator makes the decision. What we do is make sure your application is complete, accurate and right for your service, and prepare you properly for the interview. 98% of the registration applications we prepare are approved first time.

No. CQC says you must complete the application yourself, so it is made in your name. We prepare the documents with you, guide you through every form and check everything before you send it. If the regulator asks for more information or documents, we help you answer until a decision is made.

Yes. Our CQC interview preparation gives you three hours one to one with Millicent Ntaisi, our Lead Consultant, plus our Interview Prep Hub until you pass, for £750 including VAT. Our domiciliary care package also includes 3 hours of one to one interview coaching. You practise the questions CQC asks and get honest feedback before the real thing.

No. We do not deliver staff training. CQC expects a staff training plan with homecare and supported living applications, and we help you put that plan together, including the learning disability and autism training every registered provider must give its staff. We can also connect you with training providers.

Book a consultation. Tell us what service you want to run and where you are up to, and we will tell you what comes next. You can also call us on 0333 577 0877 or email hello@caresyncexperts.co.uk.