Domiciliary care tenders: how councils buy home care

Councils buy home care, also called domiciliary care, for people who need support to live at home. Care contracts follow lighter rules than most public contracts, and that changes how they're advertised and awarded. This guide covers those rules, what buyers check and where to find home care tenders.

The rules: light touch contracts

• Social care is usually light touch. Under section 9 of the Procurement Act 2023, light touch contracts are for services listed in the Procurement Regulations 2024, which include health, social and related services.
• A higher threshold. From 1 January 2026, the threshold for light touch contracts is £663,540 including tax.
• More freedom over the process. There are no minimum time limits for bids on light touch contracts, and buyers have more choice in how they run the competition.
• User choice. For light touch services provided to a particular person, the Act allows a direct award on the ground of "user choice", for example where the person or their carer has said which provider they want.
• Smaller contracts. For a below-threshold light touch contract, the buyer publishes a contract details notice within 120 days of the contract being entered into.

What buyers check

• CQC registration. In England, the Care Quality Commission says it is an offence to carry on a regulated activity without being registered. Personal care, such as home care, is a regulated activity, and a domiciliary care agency must register. Check your registration covers what the contract needs.
• Central Digital Platform registration. It's free, and buyers need it before they award a contract.
• Quality and social value. In our count of notices that published award criteria, 74 of 165 care notices had a criterion about social value. Our social value guide covers how to answer one.
• Staff in the area. Home care contracts are usually for a defined area, so buyers look at whether you can cover it.

How home care is bought

If a council runs a framework or dynamic market for home care, providers join it first and are offered packages or lots later. Find a Tender's commercial tools search lists frameworks and dynamic markets being set up, so you can see when one opens.

How competitive it is depends on the process. Across care lots with a published bid count, those from limited procedures mostly had one bid. Care lots awarded through an open procedure had a median of 9 bids.

Where to find home care tenders

• Find a Tender, for new procurements. Filter by the social work and care services classification codes, your region and the open opportunities stage.
• Contracts Finder, for procurements that started before 24 February 2025.
• Scale. Between 1 September and 28 October 2026, Find a Tender had about 122 new care tender notices a month across all care services.

Our care tenders guide covers the wider sector.

Questions

Are domiciliary care contracts light touch?

Social care services are usually light touch contracts under the Procurement Act 2023. They have a higher threshold of £663,540 including tax and no minimum time limits for bids.

Do I need CQC registration for home care in England?

The Care Quality Commission says it is an offence to carry on a regulated activity without being registered, and personal care is a regulated activity. A domiciliary care agency must register.

Why do some care tenders get only one bid?

In our count, many care lots came from limited procedures, where most had one bid. Care lots awarded through an open procedure had a median of 9 bids.

Want a shortlist done for you?

UK Tender Desk, from Your Evenings Ltd (that's us), is a done-for-you tender shortlist for small businesses in construction trades, training, transport, care, cleaning and catering. We look at live tenders on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder and pick the ones that suit a business your size. See how UK Tender Desk works

Sources

• GOV.UK: Light Touch Summary Document (time limits, user choice; read 31 October 2026)
• GOV.UK: Guidance: Thresholds (read 31 October 2026)
• GOV.UK: Guidance: Below-Threshold Contracts (updated 13 July 2026; read 31 October 2026) (paragraph 42)
• Procurement Act 2023, section 9 (light touch contracts)
• CQC: Personal care and GOV.UK: Registration of domiciliary care agencies (England)
• Find a Tender: search (filters, procurement stages, notice types and saved searches; read 31 October 2026) (commercial tools)
• The Procurement Regulations 2024, regulation 36A (supplier registration, from 1 April 2026)
• Our counts: Find a Tender and Contracts Finder open data (OCDS), counted by Your Evenings Ltd on 30 October 2026, as published in our care tenders guide. Care is classification codes 853 and 85000000 (social work and related services).

This guide summarises the official sources above. It isn't legal advice. Check the notice and tender documents for each contract.

Written with AI assistance by the Your Evenings team at Your Evenings Ltd. Last updated 31 October 2026.