Which councils' placements to accept
Which nearby councils pay best for the same care?
Compare council rates across your region.
When people use it: When deciding whether to accept placements from neighbouring councils.
How it works, step by step
Compare neighbouring councils
Add the councils whose residents you could take.
Rank the region
Filter to your region.
The views you will use
Ask the data in plain English
A real question and answer from Ask Orrery, the assistant inside the platform, for a care home owner in Kent (October 2026). It answers only from Orrery's data and the subscriber's own documents, and shows its sources.
Kent pays more than every council that borders it. I assumed you meant standard council-paid residential rates a week.
Council residential fee a week (Orrery council fee data):
- Kent: £1,187
- Greenwich: £1,063
- Bromley: £1,062
- Bexley: £1,016
- Surrey: £952
- East Sussex: £929
- Medway: £875
- Essex: £849
The England median is £965. Further afield in the South East, Hampshire (£1,245) and Slough (£1,238) are higher than Kent, which ranks 6th of 19 in the region.
A higher rate does not always mean better margins. Costs and the mix of self-funders also matter.
- A placement from a council that pays £100 a week more is worth over £5,000 a year for the same care.
Answer this for your own councils
Subscribers get every guide, chart and projection for all 153 councils, Ask Orrery, and every council report.
The Orrery platform opens to subscribers shortly. Register and we will tell you first.
Register for early access