Free tool
Local authority vs private fees
Council-funded residents pay far less than private residents, yet cost you the same to care for. See exactly what your funding mix is costing you, per bed and across the whole home, from a month to a year.
- Compare private vs social-services revenue side by side
- See the loss per month, quarter, 6 and 12 months
- Scale it across as many beds as you like
- Residential and nursing modes, including FNC
Your home
2 empty · 93% occupancy
Weekly fees
Costs & assumptions
Care staff, food, consumables, laundry, marginal utilities.
Building, management, insurance, admin, spread over every bed.
Any family top-up the home receives on top of the LA rate.
Your 8 social services beds cost you
£116,480
a year in lost revenue, vs the same beds being private
Month
£9,707
Quarter
£29,120
6 months
£58,240
12 months
£116,480
Private / wk
£1,400
Social services / wk
£1,120
Gap / bed / wk
£280
Your home's net profit at this mix
Month
£23,660
Quarter
£70,980
6 months
£141,960
12 months
£283,920
At these figures your home slips into a loss once more than 27 of your 28 occupied beds are social-services funded.
An estimate based on the figures you enter, not a guarantee. Costs vary by home.
About the local authority vs private fees calculator
Every care manager feels it, but few have put a precise number on it: a local-authority funded resident earns the home far less than a private, self-funding resident, even though the cost of caring for them, the staff hours, the food, the heating, the laundry, is identical. Councils set their own fee rates and those rates typically sit well below private fees, so the shortfall lands squarely on your bottom line. This free calculator turns your own beds, fees and funding mix into the real figure you're giving up, across a month, a quarter, six months and a full year.
It only takes a moment. Choose residential or nursing, enter how many of your beds are social-services funded and how many are private, then your private fee and the council rate, as a percentage or a set weekly amount. The tool instantly shows the revenue gap on those council beds, how much a private and a council resident each bring in per week, and your home's overall net profit at that mix, including the point at which too many council beds would push the home into a loss. It's the business case for protecting and growing your private occupancy, in black and white.
Funding mix, explained
Why do local authority residents earn less than private residents?+
Council (social services) fee rates are set by the local authority and are typically well below private self-funder fees, often 20% or more lower. The cost of actually caring for the resident, staff, food, heating, laundry, is the same either way, so almost the entire difference is revenue you never receive.
Do local authority residents actually lose the home money?+
Not usually on their own. A council-funded resident normally still covers their own running costs and contributes something towards your fixed overheads, so they beat leaving the bed empty. But they earn far less than a private resident would in the same bed, and if too many of your beds are council-funded the home can tip into an overall loss. The calculator shows both the revenue gap and your net position.
What is the self-funder cross-subsidy?+
Because councils pay below the true cost of care, most homes rely on higher private fees to balance the books, so private residents effectively subsidise council-funded ones. It is one of the biggest financial pressures in the sector, and this tool puts a number on it for your specific home.
How much less do councils pay than private families?+
It varies by local authority and region, but council rates commonly sit at around 60 to 80 percent of private fees. Enter your own private fee and council rate, as a percentage or a set weekly amount, to see the exact difference for your home.
Grow your private occupancy
We put your home in front of the private, self-funding families searching for care near you, and deliver pre-qualified enquiries straight to your door.