Foster carers needed in Petersfield
South Coast Fostering is recruiting foster carers in Petersfield and the parishes around it, including Sheet, Steep, Liss, Buriton, East Meon, Langrish, Greatham and Rogate. Children from Petersfield who come into care are placed by Hampshire County Council, not by East Hampshire District Council.
Hampshire had 1,711 children in its care in May 2026. In February 2026, 372 of them were living with independent fostering agencies, about 40 per cent of all the county's fostering placements. Petersfield-level numbers do not exist, because Hampshire publishes nothing below county level.
The 2021 Census counted 15,665 people in Petersfield parish, inside a district of 125,700. The town sits within the South Downs National Park, so the National Park Authority rather than the district council decides what gets built here, and it publishes the town's neighbourhood plan.
Sharron is the supervising social worker for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. She visits her carers at least once every four weeks and sees the child at least once every eight. Advice by phone runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and out of hours a dedicated team picks up.
We pay £479.50 a week for a child aged 0 to 10 and £507.50 for 11 and over, per child, with £550 to £850 for additional needs and £987 for a parent and child placement. Council tax help runs from £330 to £1,500 a year. Under HMRC's qualifying care relief most fostering income is not taxed. Our own Ofsted inspection ran from 12 to 16 January 2026 and returned Outstanding in all three judgement areas. Phone 023 8235 2020.
What do you need to Be a Foster carer?
There are two hard requirements and one long conversation.
The hard ones first. A spare bedroom that belongs to the child, not shared and not doubling as your office. A baby is the exception at the start, because a baby sleeps in a crib beside your bed, but the bedroom still has to exist. Then enough slack in the week for the school run twice a day, for six weeks of summer, and for appointments booked at the clinic’s convenience rather than yours.
The long conversation is the assessment, and an assessing social worker will spend months on it. Expect questions about how you were parented and what you kept from it, how you behave in an argument, what happened at the end of your last relationship, whether anyone in the house drinks more than they should, and what your bank statements look like. Your referees will be spoken to, your GP contacted, and your ex-partner as well if you have children together. Local authority checks and a DBS check run alongside.
None of that is a test you pass by being unusually good. It is a test you pass by being straight with people. Applicants who lose their place almost always lose it over something they tried to leave out.
Support you'll receive from us
- 24/7 support from your supervising social worker
- £507.50 a week in fostering allowance and fees to foster
- Intensive training program to help you be the best you can be
Where are we recruiting?
Petersfield’s neighbourhood plan lists the parishes with a recognised local connection to the town: Colemore and Priors Dean, Hawkley, Greatham, Liss, Rogate, Harting, Buriton, Stroud, Langrish, East Meon, Steep, Froxfield and Sheet. We recruit across all of them, and further out to Liphook, Clanfield, Horndean, Rowlands Castle, Four Marks and Alton.
The station sits a short walk from the market square, on the direct line between London Waterloo and Portsmouth. It has 154 car parking spaces and 172 cycle spaces, and South Western Railway classes it step-free at category B1, with level access at the London end of both platforms. The ticket office opens at ten past six on weekday mornings. Buses run to Winchester, Chichester, Havant and Midhurst, and the A3 bypass, opened in 1993, took the through traffic out of the town.
For a foster carer that combination is worth more than it looks. Contact sessions and health appointments cluster in Portsmouth and Havant, and a train from your own high street takes an hour of driving out of a difficult week. If you have a room going spare anywhere between Steep and Buriton, call 023 8235 2020. Our wider county coverage is on the Hampshire fostering page.
Petersfield
Next Steps
Depending on where you are in your fostering journey, we have a few suggested next steps.
Download Our Guide To Fostering
Arrange for a call back
Ask us a question via whatsapp
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A national park is also a planning authority
Petersfield’s neighbourhood development plan is not published by East Hampshire District Council. It is published and administered by the South Downs National Park Authority, because the town sits inside the park. That is an unusual arrangement for a town of 15,665 people, and it has a practical effect: what gets built in Petersfield is judged against national park purposes as well as against housing need.
Constrained housing supply shows up in fostering eventually. Fewer new family houses means fewer households with a room going spare, and the households that do have one tend to be older. None of that is unique to Petersfield. The park boundary just makes it sharper here than in a town with room to sprawl.
What the town has instead is connection. Two markets a week since the 12th century. The A3 running past rather than through since 1993. The Hangers Way, the Serpent Trail, the Shipwrights Way and the South Downs Way all meet at or near the town, with Butser Hill up the road. A child placed in Petersfield can keep their school and their Saturday.
The recruitment numbers are county numbers, because Hampshire County Council does not publish children’s social care data at town level. In February 2026 the county had 372 children placed with independent fostering agencies, about 40 per cent of its fostering placements. Ofsted rated Hampshire’s children’s services Outstanding after a short inspection in June 2024, although that grade stopped being issued on 1 April 2026, so date it when you read it.
Reorganisation lands on 1 April 2028. Hampshire County Council hands children’s services to a new unitary authority, elected in May 2027. Which one will cover Petersfield has not been settled in public: three East Hampshire parishes move to a different new council from the rest of the district and the government has not named them. What does not change is that a child from Sheet or Steep needs a bed within reach of their school. Call 023 8235 2020.
book a call about fostering:
We’d be happy to give you a 15-20 minute call to tell you about fostering. Don’t worry, there’s no pressure from us – it’s honestly a chance for you to ask us any questions you have about fostering, and your suitability. Just complete this short form
