The Complete Children’s Home Package · England 2026
As a consultant, clients paid me £1,500 a month, usually for about 7 months. Get everything for a one-off £2,999.
I’m Deborah Molimo. This is the playbook, the templates and the policy pack I used when I helped people set up and register a children’s home in England — the leanest way, without cutting corners on safeguarding or staffing. Yours to download instantly, and to keep.
Launch price until 31 January 2027. From 1 February 2027 the price will be £4,999.
Launch price £2,999 until 31 January 2027. From 1 February 2027 the price will be £4,999.
Digital download, supplied straight after purchase. Non-refundable once supplied, except where the files are faulty or not as described. See Terms of Sale.
The £1,500 a month, typically over about 7 months, is what clients paid me for consultancy, and what I paid when I hired a consultant myself. It is my own experience, not a market average.
Compare the cost
Move the slider to compare months of consultancy at my past rate of £1,500 a month with the one-off £2,999 package.
Based on my own past consultancy rate: £1,500 a month is what clients paid me, and what I paid when I hired a consultant myself. It is my own experience, not a market average.
Difference: £7,501 less with the package than 7 months of consultancy.
Launch price £2,999 until 31 January 2027. From 1 February 2027 the price will be £4,999.
Get the Complete Package — £2,999Digital download, supplied straight after purchase. Non-refundable once supplied, except where the files are faulty or not as described. See Terms of Sale.
What’s inside
The 47-page playbook, 25 editable templates and the full 31-document policy pack. Written for children’s homes in England, and checked against official sources in November 2026.
A 47-page, 15-step roadmap from setting up your company to welcoming your first child and keeping cash flowing. Each step covers what to do, who does it, the documents, a sourced timeframe, the cost, and four callouts:
Word and Excel files you can use straight away, including the documents commissioners, lenders and Ofsted will ask to see — plus private lean versions for your own cash planning.
29 editable policies plus Statement of Purpose and Children’s Guide templates, written to the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Quality Standards.
The 15-step roadmap
Tap any step to see what it covers, with one of the costly mistakes the playbook warns you about. The full playbook adds what to do, who does it, the documents, a sourced timeframe and the cost for every step.
Get this right and every form later just works. Get it wrong and Ofsted sends your application back to the end of the queue.
Costly mistake to avoidTyping the company name slightly differently from Companies House. Ofsted says incorrect names get applications returned.
A cautious, honest plan is your ticket through the fit person interview, and the thing that stops you running out of money in month five.
Costly mistake to avoidAssuming full occupancy from day one. Inspectors look for plans that are ‘broadly realistic’.
The right house in the right place is half your registration. The right lease can save you five figures before you’ve opened.
Costly mistake to avoidSigning before checking planning, local need and the location risks. It’s the most expensive mistake in this playbook.
No planning answer, no registration visit. Sorting it first takes away the single biggest reason homes stall.
Costly mistake to avoidApplying to Ofsted with only a planning application in. Ofsted strongly recommends waiting, and may not decide if full permission isn’t received within 12 weeks.
This is where you prove you chose the location for the children, not the yield. Inspectors read it closely.
Costly mistake to avoidA generic template with the postcode swapped in. There’s no set format, so the evidence has to carry it.
Your Statement of Purpose is the contract for everything else: rota, training, admissions, inspection. Write it once, properly.
Costly mistake to avoidBeautiful promises the rota and training plan can’t deliver. Inspectors test the gap between paper and practice.
Tailored policies are a fast way to show Ofsted you know your children. Copy-and-paste policies show you don’t.
Costly mistake to avoidA missing child policy that doesn’t reflect each child’s vulnerabilities and local reporting protocols.
Your manager is the single most important hire you’ll make. The right one shortens everything that follows.
Costly mistake to avoidTreating a promising deputy as your manager before they’re ready. The deputy route is a pipeline, not a shortcut.
A complete, error-free submission is the closest thing to a fast lane that exists.
Costly mistake to avoidApplying before you’re ready. A refused provider or manager can become disqualified.
Fit person interviews are about judgement, not how many policies you can recite. Prepare with frameworks and they become your strongest moment.
Costly mistake to avoidReciting policy word for word without the child in it. Inspectors want your judgement and values.
The registration visit is your opening night. Walk the inspector through a home that’s ready to care for a child tomorrow.
Costly mistake to avoidHiring the whole team months early, or too few people for the first child. Ofsted wants enough staff to open safely, not a full team.
Registration lets you open. Commissioning fills your beds. Start months before you’re registered.
Costly mistake to avoidOverstating framework status, specialisms or registration dates. It burns trust you won’t get back.
Your first referral response sets your reputation with a placement team. Fast, honest and thorough wins.
Costly mistake to avoidAccepting a child you can’t care for because you need the income.
Now it’s real. Get the first weeks right and your first inspection takes care of itself.
Costly mistake to avoidLetting your systems slip once the child arrives. Inspectors focus on the impact on children’s lives.
After months of registration spend, cash is often lowest just as placements start. This step keeps wages paid on time.
Costly mistake to avoidSigning a long lock-in, a personal guarantee or a whole-turnover clause without independent advice.
The lean approach
Opening a children’s home in England is expensive, and the costliest part is often the wait before the first child arrives. Lean, in this pack, means timing, negotiation and using the lawful routes that are already there.
It never means cutting safeguarding, staffing ratios or quality.
The documents you show Ofsted and councils stay plain and standard. The lean versions are for your own planning.
About Deborah
I’m Deborah Molimo, a London-based children’s home consultant.
I help people set up and get registered the leanest way — with smart, compliant methods, and never by cutting corners on safeguarding or staffing.
As a consultant, clients paid me £1,500 a month for this work, usually for about 7 months. When I hired a consultant myself, I paid the same. I put the roadmap, the checklists and the documents into one package so you can spend your money on the home, not on starting from a blank page.
This pack is general information, not a consultancy retainer and not legal advice. You still adapt every document to your home, your children and your local procedures.
England · 2024 to 2027
A short, sourced briefing for people opening or running a children’s home in England. Last checked 12 November 2026.
Act passed 29 April 2026 · Cap not in force
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 gives the Secretary of State a power to cap the profits of non-local-authority children’s homes and independent fostering agencies, but only after consultation, and only if satisfied it is necessary for value for money. No cap is in force. A financial oversight scheme for providers of “strategic significance” — to be defined in regulations — also sits in the Act. That legal framework came into force on 15 July 2026.
What it means for you. Keep planning as you do now, and watch for consultation on a cap and for the regulations that will say which larger providers are overseen. A single small home is not automatically in the scheme.
Sources: section 17 of the Act; section 16; commencement, 15 July 2026
In force from 15 July 2026
From 15 July 2026, Ofsted can impose a monetary penalty on a person carrying on or managing a children’s home without being registered, in addition to its existing power to prosecute.
What it means for you. Do not accommodate children before your registration is in place. Unregistered provision is unlawful, and it now carries a civil fine as well as the risk of prosecution.
Sources: commencement, 15 July 2026; Ofsted on the new penalty power
Power in force from 15 July 2026
The Act gives the Secretary of State power to direct local authorities to make regional co-operation arrangements for planning, commissioning and developing accommodation for looked-after children. That power came into force on 15 July 2026. Pathfinders in the South East and Greater Manchester have been operating under existing law since 2025, following recommendations from the Competition and Markets Authority and the independent care review.
What it means for you. You may increasingly deal with regional commissioners rather than each council on its own. How you introduce your home, and how sufficiency is planned, may change as more regions adopt this model.
In force
From 4 April 2025, the social care common inspection framework places a sharper focus on placement stability, including for children with high or multiple needs, and on how placement decisions match your Statement of Purpose. The framework was revised again on 1 April 2026. Fees also rose from 1 April 2026: a home with three or fewer places pays a £5,390 annual fee and a £2,006 registration fee.
What it means for you. Write your Statement of Purpose honestly, and include the current Ofsted fees in your start-up and running costs.
Sources: Ofsted, 4 April 2025; SCCIF: children’s homes; annual fees; registration fees
Due 8 December 2026
The government has published a new national fee schedule to take effect on 8 December 2026. The fee for a material change of use of a building or land is due to rise from £610 to £732. A lawful development certificate for a proposed use is half the full application fee, so it would rise from £305 to £366. Applications made before that date stay on the current fees. The new fees are then due to be indexed again from 1 April 2027.
What it means for you. If you are ready to apply, submitting before 8 December 2026 keeps the current fee. Always confirm the fee with your local planning authority, as these figures are the national default.
Sources: MHCLG fee schedule from 8 December 2026 (PDF); Planning Portal fees from 1 April 2026 (PDF)
In force · Next rise 1 April 2027
From 1 April 2026 the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over is £12.71 an hour (£10.85 aged 18–20; £8.00 for under-18s and the apprentice rate). From 1 April 2027 those rates are due to rise to £13.21, £11.27 and £8.31. From 6 April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay is payable from the first day of sickness, at the lower of £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings. Day-one rights to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave also began on that date.
What it means for you. Rebuild your rota, forecast and sickness cover on the 2026 rates, and leave headroom for April 2027.
Sources: National Minimum Wage rates; minimum wage rates for 2027; sick pay and parental leave, 6 April 2026
In force
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 is the current statutory guidance on multi-agency safeguarding. It was updated on 18 March 2026 and expressly applies to children’s homes. Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 came into force on 1 September 2026 for schools and colleges.
What it means for you. Check your safeguarding, missing-from-care and safer-recruitment policies against Working Together 2026, and make sure your education arrangements reflect what schools must follow under Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026.
Sources: Working Together 2026; Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026
Passed, not yet in force
Section 13 of the Act would extend the Children Act 1989 rules on deprivation of liberty so they can apply not only to secure accommodation, but also to other “relevant accommodation” used to deprive a looked-after child of their liberty. The section has been passed, but it is not yet in force, and no commencement date has been set.
What it means for you. If you are asked to care for a child who is, or may be, deprived of their liberty, take specialist legal advice. Do not treat this section as already in force.
Source: section 13 of the Act
This is general information, not legal, planning or financial advice. Take professional advice where you need it, and always check the current official guidance, as law and guidance change. Last checked 12 November 2026.
Protect your investment
Opening a children’s home is a big investment. Get it wrong and mistakes can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds. That’s why it pays to have support at every stage, so you protect your money, protect your investment and know exactly what you’re doing from day one to first placement.
That’s my warning from experience, not a statistic. The playbook takes you through all 15 steps in order, and every step flags a costly mistake to avoid.
No guide or template pack can guarantee Ofsted registration, a particular inspection outcome, placements or savings.
The package
As a consultant, clients paid me £1,500 a month, usually for about 7 months. Get everything for a one-off £2,999.
Launch price £2,999 until 31 January 2027. From 1 February 2027 the price will be £4,999.
The Complete Children’s Home Package is sold online, as a one-off download. The pack is designed so you can work through it yourself, at your own pace, with 3 months of email-only support if you need it.
£2,999
Launch price until 31 January 2027
From 1 February 2027 the price will be £4,999
One-off · instant download · England 2026 edition
Digital download, supplied straight after purchase. Non-refundable once supplied, except where the files are faulty or not as described. See Terms of Sale.
Need bespoke policies written for your home? Enquire for a quote.
Every purchase includes 3 months of free consultancy support by email, from the date you buy, for your setup and registration questions. Email only. Email for support.
Questions
The Complete Children’s Home Package is one product. It includes the 47-page playbook, all 25 editable templates (Word and Excel), and the full 31-document policy and procedure pack. After payment, it is an instant download. Support is by email only, for 3 months from purchase.
The package is a digital download, supplied straight after purchase. Once it has been supplied, the sale is non-refundable, because you request immediate access and, when the download is supplied, you lose the usual 14-day right to cancel. This does not affect your statutory rights if the files are faulty or not as described — in that case you are entitled to a repair, replacement or refund, as the law provides. See the Terms of Sale.
As a consultant, clients paid me £1,500 a month, usually for about 7 months, so around £10,500 in total. I paid the same when I hired a consultant myself. That is my own experience, not a market statistic. The package is a one-off £2,999 for the playbook, the templates and the policy pack, yours to keep and adapt. It is not a consultancy retainer. Every purchase includes 3 months of free consultancy support by email, from the date you buy. Email only. Email for support.
Yes. The launch price of £2,999 applies to orders placed by 23:59 UK time on 31 January 2027. From 1 February 2027 the price will be £4,999.
Yes. Every purchase includes 3 months of consultancy support from me by email only, from the date you buy. If you need policies written specifically for your home, you can enquire for a quote — that is a separate piece of work, not part of the £2,999 package.
No guide or template pack can guarantee Ofsted registration, a particular inspection outcome, placements or savings, and this one does not. It gives you the roadmap and the documents to work from. You still have to do the work, adapt everything to your home, and meet Ofsted’s requirements at the time you apply.
No. Ofsted does not approve, accredit or endorse policies, and nothing in this pack is “Ofsted approved”. The policies are written to meet the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Quality Standards. Inspectors judge how your policies work in practice, and the difference your care makes to children.
No. This is general information. Take professional or legal advice where you need it, including on planning, finance, employment and company set-up.
Yes. Every template and policy must be adapted to your home, your Statement of Purpose, the needs of the children you care for, your local safeguarding partnership’s procedures and your placing authorities’ requirements before you use them. Placeholders are marked so you can find and replace them.
People setting up a children’s home in England, including experienced residential managers and deputies planning their own home, and small providers opening another home. It is written against English law and Ofsted guidance. It is not written for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, or for adult care homes.
The pack gives you a complete, editable starting point. If you would rather have policies written specifically for your home, enquire for a quote. That work is priced separately and is not included in the £2,999 package.