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As a homecare agency owner, you have a superpower – you know your community inside and out. You know the neighbourhoods, you understand the people, and you have a gut feeling for where your services are needed most. That local knowledge is something no database can ever replace.
But what if you could combine that intuition with some simple, free data to make your marketing even more effective? What if you could turn that gut feeling into a clear plan for finding new private-pay clients?
Growing your private-pay business is key to building a more resilient and sustainable agency. It gives you more control over your rates and reduces your reliance on often-unprofitable local authority contracts. This guide isn't about complicated spreadsheets or corporate-style "territory planning strategy." It's about making your existing knowledge more systematic and giving you a simple, practical way to confirm what you already suspect about your local area – and perhaps uncover a few surprises along the way.
We'll walk you through a few straightforward steps to help you decide where to focus your marketing. This is all about using simple tools to make smart decisions, helping you find the clients who need and can afford your high-quality care.
Step 1: Find where older people live with free government data
The first step is to pinpoint the neighbourhoods where there's a higher concentration of older people. You probably have a good sense of this already, but using official data can confirm your assumptions and help you discover new 'care clusters'. This process is simpler than it sounds and gives you a strong foundation for your planning.
How to find homecare demographic analysis in the UK
The Office for National Statistics provides free, publicly available data on the UK population. Here's how to find what you need:
- Visit the ONS website: Go to ons.gov.uk.
- Search for census data: In the search bar, type "age by single year, local area" and press enter.
- Find your area: Look for the datasets from the most recent census. You'll be able to download an Excel file.
- Look at the numbers: Open the file and find your local authority. You'll see a breakdown of the population by age. Look for the total number of people aged 65 and over, and then 85 and over.
- Map it out: Note down the postcodes or council wards with the highest numbers. These are your potential care hotspots.
This isn't about becoming a data analyst – it's about using a simple, free tool to back up your local knowledge and guide your efforts in mapping wealthy areas for care.
If you're short on time, here's a faster way to get a sense of local demographics.
- Take a drive: Spend 20 minutes driving through different neighbourhoods. Look for observable indicators like well-maintained bungalows, retirement apartment complexes, or accessible homes with ramps.
- Check local community hubs: Where do older adults gather in your area? Think about local libraries, community centres, social clubs, or places of worship. These are often at the heart of the communities you want to serve.
Step 2: Spot the areas where people can afford premium care
Once you know where older people are living, the next step is to understand which of those areas are more affluent. This isn't about making assumptions, but about looking for simple, observable clues that suggest residents can afford to pay for care privately. This is a key part of care demand forecasting.
There are several ways to spot areas where people can afford premium care without needing a degree in economics. Think of them as simple proxies for wealth.
A step-by-step guide to finding affluent areas
- Look at housing prices: Use a website like Rightmove or Zoopla. Search for properties in the postcodes you identified earlier. Higher property values are a strong indicator of disposable income. You don't need to do a deep analysis – just get a feel for the average prices in different neighbourhoods.
- Identify premium brands: When you're driving through an area, what kind of shops and services do you see? The presence of high-end supermarkets (like Waitrose or M&S Foodhall), boutique shops, and premium car brands (like Audi, BMW, or Mercedes) can all be simple indicators of local affluence.
- Observe home maintenance: Look at the general upkeep of the homes and gardens. Well-maintained properties suggest that residents have the financial means and personal pride to invest in their homes – and, by extension, in high-quality care.
- Check Council Tax bands: This is a surprisingly simple way to gauge the affluence of an area. Council Tax bands are linked to property values, so areas with a high concentration of homes in bands E, F, G and H are likely to be more affluent. You can easily check the band for any property in England and Wales on the gov.uk website. It's a quick, free way to add another layer of data to your analysis.
On-the-ground intelligence
- The 'Waitrose Test': It's a classic for a reason. If a neighbourhood has a Waitrose, it's a strong sign that the residents have higher-than-average disposable income.
- Chat with other local business owners: Talk to people who run non-competing businesses that serve a similar demographic, like local accountants, solicitors, or independent financial advisors. They often have a great sense of the financial landscape of your community. You already have these relationships – use them!
Step 3: Check out your local competitors
Understanding your competition is a vital part of strategic territory planning for care. It's not about copying them, but about understanding what they offer, how they are perceived, and where the gaps in the market might be. You can do a simple competitor analysis in homecare in just 10 minutes.
A 10-minute guide to the CQC website
The CQC website is the easiest way to get a snapshot of the other care providers in your area.
- Go to cqc.org.uk.
- Find a care service: Click on the main search bar and enter a postcode from one of your target areas.
- Filter the results: Select "Homecare agencies" under the "Service type" filter.
- Review the list: Look at the providers that appear. Click on their profiles to see their CQC rating (Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement, or Inadequate).
- Ask yourself: How does my service compare? Do I offer something unique? Is there an opportunity to provide a higher quality of service in an area dominated by providers with lower ratings?
This quick exercise helps you understand the local landscape and identify opportunities to stand out.
Look beyond the rating
- Read online reviews: Spend a few minutes on Google or homecare.co.uk. What are families saying about your competitors? Look for recurring themes. Are they praised for communication? Or are there complaints about reliability? This feedback is gold.
- Review their websites: Do their websites look professional? Is their messaging clear? This will give you a sense of how they position themselves in the market.
Step 4: Find the adult children making the decisions
Often, the search for care is started not by the person who will receive it, but by their adult children. These family members are the decision-makers you need to reach. They might not live in the same neighbourhood as their parents, so you need to think about where they live and work.
Instead of thinking about complex "heatmaps," let's focus on practical ways to connect with these decision-makers.
How to find and connect with adult children
- Think about commuter towns: Where do professionals in their 40s, 50s, and 60s live? They are often in more affluent suburbs or commuter towns outside the main urban centre where their parents might live. Think about the transport links and desirable school districts around your core service area.
- Identify major local employers: Which companies or organisations in your region employ a lot of middle-aged professionals? This could be a large corporate office, a hospital, a university, or a science park. These are places where the adult children you want to reach spend their working week.
- Build real-world connections: Your strength is in building relationships. Think about where you can have conversations.
- Local business networks: Attend events hosted by the local Chamber of Commerce or other networking groups.
- Community and charity events: Sponsoring a local fun run or having a stand at a community fair can increase your visibility.
- Professional service providers: Build relationships with solicitors and financial advisors who often work with families planning for the future.
You already know how to connect with people. This is just about being more intentional about where you do it.
From research to action: deciding where to focus
Your research has given you a shortlist of promising areas. Now it's time to turn that data into a concrete plan. The first big question is often one of scale: should you pivot your existing marketing efforts or invest in opening a new branch?
A new branch is a major commitment of time and resources. It's usually best when you see a large, underserved population in a territory that's difficult to service from your current location. A marketing pivot is a lower-risk way to test the waters in a nearby area that your team can realistically travel to.
To make the decision with confidence, you can use a simple scoring framework to compare your shortlisted postcodes. This helps you move beyond a gut feeling to a decision based on evidence. For more detail on this, our guide on How to Grow Your Homecare Business with Data is a great resource.
Create a simple table and score each target area from 1 (low potential) to 5 (high potential) on factors like:
- Ideal client density: How many people from your target demographic live there?
- Competition: How many other providers are already active in the area?
- Wealth indicators: What is the average property value or income level?
- Recruitment potential: Is there a good pool of potential carers living nearby?
Once you've chosen a priority area, be realistic about its boundaries. Don't just follow postcode lines – think in terms of practical travel times for your care professionals. A 30-minute journey can look very different in rural Yorkshire than it does in central London.
The key is to start small and test. Ring-fence your highest-scoring area and run a small, focused marketing campaign. Track your results carefully to see what works. Having the right systems in place to monitor your progress is key – which is where tools like Birdie Analytics can make all the difference.
Conclusion
Finding the right areas to expand your homecare business doesn't have to be a guessing game. By combining publicly available data with your own deep knowledge of your community, you can build a clear, evidence-based case for where to focus your efforts.
You are the expert on the care you provide. This research simply adds another layer of insight to help you direct that expertise effectively. It allows you to identify untapped opportunities and build resilience – especially when it comes to growing your private-pay client base. If you're looking for more strategies on this, The Winning Private Clients Handbook is packed with practical advice.
Ultimately, a data-led approach helps you make smarter decisions, reduce risk and build a foundation for long-term success. It's a powerful way to ensure you are building one of the growing care businesses that will thrive for years to come.
Published date:
February 26, 2026
Author:
Hannah Nakano Stewart
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