Care homes in Wales increasingly run for profit, says TUC Cymru and UNISON

A new report showing that 75% of identified adult care home places in Wales are run by for-profit providers, and that the only significant growth in supply of care home places is coming from private investment firms, should be a wake-up call for politicians and council leaders, say TUC Cymru and UNISON today (14th July 2026).

The report from TUC Cymru and the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (CICTAR), titled “People in Cymru expect better for their communities”, examines the ownership of adult care home services across Wales. It found that across Wales, for-profit providers now supply 75% of identified adult care home places. Investment firm-owned providers supply 17% of places, a larger share than local government.

TUC Cymru and UNISON say the figures show too much public money meant for care is being taken out of the system by private companies and investors, instead of being spent on care workers, residents and better services.

The report warns that care quality can suffer where services are driven by profit, and that staff in privately run care homes are often under greater pressure. Care workers, including care assistants, support workers and domestic staff, are already dealing with low pay, high workloads and rising demand.

The report also finds that between 2020 and 2025 there has been a 34% fall in not-for-profit provision, meanwhile not-for-profit providers have shrunk from 16% to 10.9% of provision in the same period.

The largest thirty care home providers across Wales control 35% of all places. 75% of these places are from for-profit companies. Investments firms, typically owned by private equity, supply 22% of the top thirty’s supply. Compare this to Local Government supply, which makes up only 15% of the top thirty’s supply. This means that investment firms own more of our social care than local government.
TUC Cymru and UNISON are calling on the Welsh government to extend its commitment to remove profit from children’s care to all forms of social care, including adult care homes. The union says councils should also be given greater support to provide care directly, with stronger transparency over who owns care companies and care home properties.

For this trend to change, there must be interventions, these are the lessons learned from other parts of the UK and globally.

Amber Courtney, Head of Policy, TUC Cymru said: “Private Social Care providers in Cymru are no longer predominantly smaller homes rooted in the community. Instead, big global players have become increasingly involved.
“There is now strong evidence that workers in privately operated care homes are often paid less, care quality suffers, and profit is extracted from public money to benefit owners and offshore investors.
“Removing profit would mean public money is invested solely for public benefit. Without a change, social care is going to get ever more expensive for us all.”

Jess Turner, UNISON Cymru Secretary said: “This report highlights once again that that the adult social care system in Cymru is heading in the wrong direction. 

Care workers are calling on the new Welsh Government to take the opportunity to complete the job of removing profit from all care. 

Public services should be delivered for the public benefit, by well-paid workers working in the public interest.”

Vivek Kotecha, report author said: ‘CICTAR has carried out research into private care companies across the UK and around the globe and the trends are very clear. When care is treated as an opportunity to make money it is care workers, and our loved ones that they care for, that suffer while others become rich.
“With the only significant growth in the supply of care home places in Wales over the last five years coming from global investment firms, the government urgently needs to change the direction of travel before it is too late’.