The North West Has a Quarter of England's Children's Homes
Children's homes are not spread evenly across England. The North West alone holds around a quarter of them, roughly 1,250 homes, while the South West has just 300. Yet only 18% of England's children in care come from the North West. The result is a map where homes and children do not line up, and it is children who pay for the gap by being placed far from everything they know.
Ofsted's Children's social care in England 2026 data lays the imbalance out plainly. One region holds a quarter of the country's homes, and the spread bears little relation to where children actually come from. We mapped the full regional picture in our analysis of the Ofsted children's homes data. At Sue Solutions we build children's homes management software, and the consequences of this uneven map land squarely on the providers and teams trying to care for children a long way from home.
How Uneven The Map Really Is
The gap between the busiest and quietest regions is stark. The North West has more than four times as many homes as the South West. Even the second largest region, the West Midlands, has little more than half the North West's total. And the gap is still widening: the North West added 230 homes last year, more than any other region.
| Region | Children's homes | Share of England |
|---|---|---|
| North West | 1,252 | 26% |
| West Midlands | 723 | 15% |
| North East, Yorkshire and the Humber | 647 | 14% |
| East Midlands | 606 | 13% |
| South East | 486 | 10% |
| East of England | 387 | 8% |
| London | 346 | 7% |
| South West | 300 | 6% |
The North West has around 1,250 children's homes. The entire South West has 300.
Why The Homes Are Where They Are
Much of the imbalance comes down to where homes are cheapest to open and run rather than where children in care live. A large house suitable for a children's home costs far less to buy or rent in parts of the North West and the Midlands than in the South East or London.
Ofsted has been pointed about what this means. In its annual report last December, the regulator said the concentration of homes in cheaper areas suggested decisions were being driven by profit rather than children's needs. The Children's Homes Association pushed back, arguing that providers can only open where planning permission is granted, where councils say they will place children and where Ofsted will register them, as Community Care reported. Whatever the cause, the mismatch is clear. The North West holds 22% of England's children's home places but is responsible for 18% of looked-after children. London is responsible for 11% of children but has under 9% of places, and the South West 8.5% of children against 5.5% of places, according to figures reported by Community Care.
This is a distribution problem, not a simple shortage. Ofsted has said the number of available placements far outnumbers the number of children in residential care. The difficulty is that the places are in the wrong parts of the country, so a region can hold a surplus while another cannot find a suitable local home.
The Cost Falls On Children, And On The Teams Around Them
A map where homes and children do not line up has a human consequence. A child from a region with little local provision may be placed many miles away, far from family, school, friends and the social worker who knows them. Across all children in care in England, 44% were placed outside their council's boundary and 22% more than 20 miles from home in 2025, according to the Department for Education.
That distance does not just affect the child. It reshapes the daily work of the home caring for them. When a young person is placed far from their home authority, the home becomes the hinge between a placing authority in one part of the country and everyone around the child in another. That means more people to keep informed, more handovers across distance and more importance riding on records that a social worker two hundred miles away can rely on without a site visit.
- A placing authority in another region needs clear, current information without being able to drop in
- Family time, education and health appointments are harder to coordinate across distance
- Reviews and oversight involve professionals spread across the country, so the record has to hold the whole story
- Safeguarding depends on the home spotting and sharing concerns quickly, because the usual local network is further away
Why Records Matter More When The Distance Is Greater
When everyone around a child is local, gaps in the record can be patched by a quick call or a visit. When a child is placed far from home, that safety net is thinner, and the home's records carry more of the load. A placing social worker who cannot easily visit relies on what the home has written down. A review that draws professionals from several regions depends on a single, current account that everyone can trust.
This is where sector-specific software earns its place in an out-of-area placement. Good children's homes management software keeps the records inspectors and social workers rely on current and connected, links incidents back to plans and lets a manager share a clear picture with a placing authority without assembling it by hand each time. For a provider running homes across more than one region, our multi home reporting tools keep that oversight consistent wherever the homes and the children happen to be.
The regional imbalance is a problem for policymakers to solve, and it will not be fixed quickly. In the meantime, the homes caring for children far from home can do one thing within their control. They can make sure the record travels with the child, so distance does not become another gap in their care.
Frequently Asked Questions
The North West, by a clear margin. As at 31 March 2026 it held 1,252 children's homes, including short-break-only homes, about 26% of the England total, according to Ofsted's Children's social care in England data. That is well ahead of the next largest region, the West Midlands, at 15%. The South West, at the other end, had 300 homes, around 6% of the total.
Property costs play a big part. Larger houses suitable for a children's home are cheaper to buy or rent in parts of the North West than in the South East or London. Ofsted has said the concentration of homes in cheaper areas suggests decisions driven by profit rather than children's needs. The Children's Homes Association disputes this, pointing out that providers can only open where planning permission is granted, where councils will place children and where Ofsted will register them.
It is a significant part of why many are. When homes cluster in a few regions and are scarce in others, a child from an area with little local provision may be placed a long way from family, school and their social worker. Across all children in care in England, 44% were placed outside their council's boundary and 22% more than 20 miles from home in 2025, according to the Department for Education.
Ofsted has been clear that the issue is less about the overall number and more about location. It has said the number of available placements far outnumbers the number of children in residential care, but they are not always in the right places or able to meet children's needs. So some regions have a surplus while others cannot find a suitable local home. It is a distribution problem more than a pure supply one.
