Personal care registration for homecare agencies
Before you apply
Many homecare agencies (also called domiciliary care agencies) send us applications to register for the regulated activity personal care that are missing important information.
We cannot register your agency if you send an incomplete application or include incorrect information.
Check if you need to register with us
Before you apply, read our guide on who needs to register. It's called the Scope of registration and it will help you:
- check if you need to register with us
- decide which regulated activities you need to apply for.
Regulated activities are specific health or social care activities that are defined in law. If you are a health or social care provider in England, you need to register with us to legally provide that activity. Personal care is one type of regulated activity.
Understand your responsibilities
You and your managers must understand and have experience with relevant laws, including:
You must be able to show how you’ll meet (and continue to meet) the fundamental standards. We want to see evidence of this when we process your application, and when we interview you or your managers.
Make sure you have the right qualifications and experience
You must have the qualifications, skills and experience to provide care that meets the needs of people who use your service.
If you plan to be a:
- Provider
- Registered manager
You must show us that you're suitable for these roles.
Registered managers
To show that they can manage the service, your registered managers need to prove they have the right:
- qualifications (for example, a Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Adult Care)
- training
- relevant skills and experience.
They must also show that they can meet the needs of the people who will use your service.
For homecare agencies, we expect a manager to have experience with:
- complaints
- mental capacity assessments
- safeguarding concerns
- medication errors.
Recent experience in a regulated care service, or homecare service will strengthen their application.
Additional guidance
Skills for Care have helpful resources on skills and training for social care managers.
Apply for DBS checks
Once you've confirmed you need to register as a provider, you should get a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check for anyone applying to be:
- an individual provider
- a registered partner
- a registered manager.
You should do this as soon as possible, so they are ready before you apply. We cannot process your application without them.
The checks usually take around 14 days but can take longer.
Read our guidance on DBS checks for more information.
Make sure your premises are suitable
Your application must include information about your office or base in the 'locations' section of your application form.
Even if you provide care in people's homes, we need information about your main office. This is where you'll manage your service and keep records.
We might refuse your application if your premises aren't suitable. For example, if you cannot keep people's records safe and secure
Businesses based outside of England
We cannot accept addresses in:
- Wales
- Scotland
- Northern Ireland
- overseas countries
If your business is based outside England, you must still provide an address in England for your main office or base.
PO box addresses
A PO box address is only acceptable when it's part of a full physical address. That means it must include a full street address and postcode. This is because we can only inspect premises defined as 'regulated premises' under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Services for autistic people and people with a learning disability
If you want to provide services for autistic people and people with a learning disability you must read our right support, right care, right culture guidance before you apply.