HOW TO HIRE · CHILDCARE & FAMILY · CHECKED OCTOBER 2026
How to hire a live-in nanny in the UK The checks, the questions and the paperwork.
A live-in nanny lives and works in your home, so registration is not required anywhere in the UK — but the vetting check for your nation, right-to-work checks and your full duties as employer apply, and accommodation you provide counts in minimum wage calculations. This guide covers those, what to ask, what the contract should say and how Tax-Free Childcare can help.
A live-in nanny is your employee in every UK nation. Here are the checks, the contract and what to ask.
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THE 60-SECOND VERSION
Hiring a live-in nanny in five steps
1Check right to work and vettingBefore an offer.
2Register as an employerPayroll, pension, employers' liability insurance.
3Write a contractDuty hours, days off, evenings, room and board.
4Prepare the roomPrivate, with somewhere to rest.
5Tell your insurersHome and car.
BEFORE YOU BOOK
Check before you book
Ofsted voluntary Childcare Register (England)
In England a live-in nanny caring for children in the family's own home, for no more than two families at a time, does not have to register. They may join the voluntary part of Ofsted's Childcare Register, which needs an enhanced DBS check with barred lists, first aid training and public liability insurance — and it is what lets you pay through Tax-Free Childcare.
Ask the live-in nanny for their Ofsted URN and check it in Ofsted's 'check if childcare is registered' service; Ofsted does not publish nannies' names, so the URN is the route. reports.ofsted.gov.uk →
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Wales: care in the child's own home is not childminding, and a live-in nanny cannot be paid through the Childcare Offer; CIW's voluntary approval scheme can open other support. Scotland: a live-in nanny working in the family's home is not a childminder, but a nanny hired by a parent is a regulated role needing PVG scheme membership. Northern Ireland: home childcare need not be registered, but a home childcarer can be approved by the Health and Social Care Trust (aged 18 or over, paediatric first aid, a childcare qualification or induction, criminal record checks), which opens childcare support.
Wales: ask whether they are CIW-approved. Scotland: ask for proof of PVG membership. Northern Ireland: ask whether the Trust has approved them. nidirect.gov.uk →
Criminal record check — DBS, PVG or AccessNI
England and Wales: childcare can get the enhanced DBS check with barred lists, and Ofsted requires it of a registered live-in nanny. Scotland: PVG scheme membership. Northern Ireland: an enhanced AccessNI check with the children's barred list, through an Umbrella Body for the self-employed. A parent cannot apply on a carer's behalf.
Ask to see the live-in nanny's certificate — or proof of PVG membership in Scotland — and read the issue date; a DBS certificate has no official expiry. gov.uk →
You as the employer
gov.uk says you are usually the employer of a live-in nanny who works in your home when you take them on yourself, rather than through an agency or as a self-employed worker. That means a contract, payslips, at least the National Minimum Wage, employers' liability insurance, registering as an employer and running payroll — and you cannot ask them to become self-employed.
Agree the employment status in writing before the start date, and set up payroll or pay someone to run it. gov.uk →
VAT
Childcare is exempt from VAT only when it is supplied by a state-regulated provider (Ofsted, CIW, the Care Inspectorate or the Health and Social Care Trust), a charity or a public body; otherwise the standard rate applies. If a live-in nanny is self-employed and not state-regulated, the exemption does not apply — though under £90,000 they are not VAT-registered and charge no VAT.
Put the live-in nanny's employment status in the contract; as your employee they are paid through payroll, with no VAT. gov.uk →
ASK THESE
“Which criminal record check do you hold as a live-in nanny?”
A good answer: Shown with its date.
“Can you show your right to work in the UK?”
A good answer: Documents checked before the start.
“What hours on duty and off duty does a live-in nanny expect?”
A good answer: Written down, with days off and evenings.
“How many evenings of babysitting are included in the nanny contract?”
A good answer: A number in the contract.
“What does a live-in nanny need from the room?”
A good answer: Privacy, a lock, wifi — agreed.
“Do you drive?”
A good answer: Licence checked; added to your insurance.
“What notice will you give?”
A good answer: And how the room is handed back.
Booking by the hour
Gross weekly pay and the hours it covers, with the hourly rate for babysitting beyond them
Employer's National Insurance and pension on top
Room and board — and how the accommodation offset counts towards the minimum wage
Time off each week, and what is paid if the family is away and the work stops
The duties agreed before the first day, holiday and sick pay, and any agency fee
ID and right to work checked before the move-in date
Walk away if
Wants to be self-employed while living in
No right-to-work documents
No criminal record check
Unclear duty hours
Net-pay only discussions
No contract
LOW
£400
TYPICAL
£500
HIGH
£700
What a live-in nanny costs: £400–£700 per week
Live-in nannies are paid weekly as employees, with room and board and employer costs on top. Live-In Nanny price guide →
Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.
KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR? NOW FIND ONE
Live-in nannies near you, with the badges that matter shown
ID checked, trader status and one score from every review — on the card, before you message anyone. Nearest first. No account needed to look.
Handle the move-outNotice and room handover as agreed.
Close the booking with a reviewReviews on Locufy come from real bookings like yours with this live-in nanny. The make-it-right step is there first if something went wrong.
MONEY BACK
Grants that may apply
Help towards a nanny's cost. Tax-Free Childcare needs the nanny to be approved childcare — on Ofsted's voluntary register in England, or approved in Northern Ireland — and it can also pay the nanny's tax and National Insurance.
HMRC · GRANTVerified 16 Oct 2026
Tax-Free Childcare
up to £500 every 3 months per child (£2,000 a year); up to £1,000 every 3 months (£4,000 a year) for a disabled childthe government adds £2 for every £8 paid into the childcare account
Who: working parents of children aged 11 or under, or 16 or under if disabled
usually working or about to start work
the provider must be approved childcare and signed up to the scheme
reconfirm eligibility every 3 months
in Northern Ireland nidirect adds: each parent expects to earn at least the minimum wage for 16 hours a week, neither earns £100,000 or more, and it cannot be combined with Universal Credit childcare or childcare vouchers
Schemes change. The amounts above were checked on the dates shown; the official page is the one that counts.
IF IT GOES WRONG
STEP 1Raise it with the live-in nanny as their employerTalk first, then write down what needs to change and by when. gov.uk expects an employer to discuss a conduct or performance problem informally before anything formal, and to have written disciplinary rules that follow the Acas Code of Practice (the Labour Relations Agency code in Northern Ireland); a live-in nanny can raise a grievance with you, and may bring a companion to a formal meeting.
STEP 2Use Locufy's make-it-right stepIf you booked the live-in nanny through Locufy and rate them under four stars, you are asked whether to send it to them first; we follow it through. Then you review.
STEP 3If the live-in nanny's job endsFollow the notice in the contract: after a month in the job an employee must give at least a week's notice, and dismissing without proper notice is wrongful dismissal, so act fairly and keep records. Final pay includes wages owed and any untaken statutory holiday, even after gross misconduct; give the live-in nanny a P45 and report the leaving date to HMRC through payroll. The Acas helpline (0300 123 1100) advises employers in England, Scotland and Wales.
STEP 4Booked through an agency, or self-employed?Then you are a customer, not an employer: the agency or the self-employed live-in nanny is a trader who must use reasonable care and skill under section 49 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. A money claim against them can go to small claims — up to £10,000 in England and Wales, £5,000 under simple procedure in Scotland, £5,000 in Northern Ireland.
Hiring a live-in nanny: questions people ask
No UK nation requires it; England has Ofsted's voluntary Childcare Register.
Almost always — with payroll, minimum wage, holiday, pension and employers' liability insurance.
Accommodation you provide is taken into account when working out minimum wage, within the rules on gov.uk.
£400 to £700 a week, typically around £500. Room, food, employer's National Insurance and pension sit on top of the weekly pay. The live-in nanny price guide shows what moves the figure; search your town above, then agree the weekly hours, the hourly rate for extra time and the duties in the contract.
Enhanced DBS in England and Wales, PVG in Scotland, AccessNI in Northern Ireland — shown to you.
Follow the contract's notice and disciplinary terms.
Checked October 2026 · https://locufy.com/uk/how-to-hire/live-in-nanny
The five steps
Check right to work and vetting. Before an offer.
Register as an employer. Payroll, pension, employers' liability insurance.
Write a contract. Duty hours, days off, evenings, room and board.
Prepare the room. Private, with somewhere to rest.
Tell your insurers. Home and car.
Check before you book
Ofsted voluntary Childcare Register (England): Ask the live-in nanny for their Ofsted URN and check it in Ofsted's 'check if childcare is registered' service; Ofsted does not publish nannies' names, so the URN is the route.
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: Wales: ask whether they are CIW-approved. Scotland: ask for proof of PVG membership. Northern Ireland: ask whether the Trust has approved them.
Criminal record check — DBS, PVG or AccessNI: Ask to see the live-in nanny's certificate — or proof of PVG membership in Scotland — and read the issue date; a DBS certificate has no official expiry.
You as the employer: Agree the employment status in writing before the start date, and set up payroll or pay someone to run it.
VAT: Put the live-in nanny's employment status in the contract; as your employee they are paid through payroll, with no VAT.
Questions to ask
“Which criminal record check do you hold as a live-in nanny?” Shown with its date.
“Can you show your right to work in the UK?” Documents checked before the start.
“What hours on duty and off duty does a live-in nanny expect?” Written down, with days off and evenings.
“How many evenings of babysitting are included in the nanny contract?” A number in the contract.
“What does a live-in nanny need from the room?” Privacy, a lock, wifi — agreed.
“Do you drive?” Licence checked; added to your insurance.
“What notice will you give?” And how the room is handed back.
