The Limes

Cumberland Street, Houghton Regis, Dunstable, LU5 5BW

01582946229

Care Type

Residential Care

Assessment date

7 August 2024

Provider

Optimal Living (Luton) Limited

Beds

6 beds

Rating history

OutstandingOct 2024

First inspected by CQC in 2024, rated Outstanding.

Source: CQC inspection reports. Contains CQC data licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Costs and who runs this home

Run by Optimal Living (Luton) Limited, which runs 2 care homes in England: 1 rated Outstanding and 1 Good.

Average care home fees in the East of England: £1,034 a week for residential care and £1,411 for nursing care (2024-25 averages). Self-funders usually pay more. See our care home costs guide.

How to pay for a care home explains the council means test, what counts as capital and the funding you can ask to be assessed for.

About The Limes

The Limes is a small residential care home in Houghton Regis, near Dunstable in Central Bedfordshire, with six beds. Run by Optimal Living (Luton) Limited, it provides care for older people, younger adults, and individuals with learning disabilities, mental health conditions, physical disabilities, or sensory impairments.

The home received an Outstanding rating from the Care Quality Commission in the CQC assessment published on 1 October 2024. Its small size means residents benefit from a more intimate setting, with care tailored to individual needs across a diverse range of support requirements. The home is situated on Cumberland Street within a residential area, providing access to local amenities while maintaining a domestic environment.

Specialist Care

Learning disabilitiesMental healthOlder peoplePhysical disabilitiesSensory impairmentsYounger adults

Fees and availability

We have not verified a current weekly fee for this home. Ask for a written quote based on the room and care needed, including any extra charges.

Check current vacancies, the admission assessment and visiting arrangements directly with the home.

Care and inspection details

Checked against the CQC register on 21 September 2026. This is a check of published information, not a visit to the home.

Registered service: Care home service without nursing
Registered capacity: 6 places — this is not a vacancy count
Registration checked: Registered · LU5 5BW

Registered care categories

Caring for adults over 65 yrs; Caring for adults under 65 yrs; Learning disabilities; Mental health conditions; Physical disabilities; Sensory impairment.

These describe the registration. The home must assess whether it can meet the individual person's needs and whether a place is available.

CQC ratings in more detail

Overall rating shown by CQC: Outstanding.

Assessment published 1 October 2024. Assessment date recorded: 7 August 2024.

Read CQC's assessment overview

The following is CQC's published account of its assessment, published 1 October 2024. References to “we” mean CQC. It describes findings at that time.

Date of assessment: 08 August 2024 to 21 August 2024 As part of our assessment methodology for people with a learning disability and autistic people, we assess if services are meeting the Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture (RSRCRC) statutory guidance. This includes: Right support: Model of care and setting maximises people's choice, control, and independence. Right care: Care is person-centred and promotes people's dignity, privacy, and human rights. Right culture: Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive, and empowered lives. This is the services first inspection, and we assessed all the quality statements under the key questions of Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led. We found people were receiving exceptional care in some key questions and have rated the key questions of Effective, Caring and Well-led as Outstanding. Please see the report for full details.

Safe: Good
Effective: Outstanding
Caring: Outstanding
Responsive: Good
Well-led: Outstanding

Read The Limes's CQC record and reports.

Contains Care Quality Commission information under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Ratings and registration details can change after the date checked.

5 Questions to Ask on Your Visit

When visiting The Limes, consider asking...

1.What happens if my relative's care needs increase significantly -- will they have to move?
2.How do you handle concerns or complaints from families?
3.What does the monthly fee cover and what will cost extra?
4.How do you keep families informed about their relative's day-to-day wellbeing?
5.What happens if my relative is unhappy here?

5 Things to Look For on Your Visit

When you visit The Limes, look out for...

1.Do staff greet residents by name and stop to chat?
2.Are residents dressed, up and occupied, or sitting alone in front of a TV?
3.Does the home smell fresh and feel clean without being clinical?
4.Do residents look comfortable and at ease, or anxious and withdrawn?
5.Does the manager answer your questions openly or deflect?

Could the NHS fund The Limes's fees?

The average nursing home costs £1,535 per week. That's £79,820 a year. NHS Continuing Healthcare could cover all of it. No means test, no contribution from you.

Find out if the NHS could fund these fees