Alcohol rehab in London: the honest guide

Clinically reviewed byNerea Encinas SánchezDirector of the centre, MSc General Health PsychologyRegistered psychologist, COPAO AO13857

Checked for accuracy on 28 July 2026. Next review due July 2027. This page is general information about our programme and is not a substitute for advice about your own situation.

The alcohol picture in London

London is thirty two boroughs and the City, about nine million people, and for treatment purposes that matters more than it sounds: what you can access depends on which borough you live in, not on where you work or drink. Like the rest of England, alcohol is the most common reason adults come forward for treatment, ahead of any single drug, according to national figures published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. Many people dealing with alcohol abuse also face substance abuse involving drug or alcohol addiction together, or co-occurring mental health issues and dual diagnosis, which is why a proper assessment looks at the whole picture, not just the drinking. Whatever the addiction to drugs or alcohol looks like day to day, and whether alcohol or drug use is the bigger worry, the practical point for anyone in London is simple: help exists, most of it is free, and asking for it is the hardest part, not the getting of it.

Support runs from a quiet chat with a GP, through outpatient care at the local community drug and alcohol service (part of the National Health Service), to residential detox and rehabilitation where that is clinically needed. The same service also arranges drug rehab, drug detox and wider drug rehabilitation for people whose difficulty is drug recovery, or drug addiction, rather than, or as well as, alcohol. You do not have to have hit a crisis to be entitled to any of it.

Speak to a clinician about treatment from London

Confidential, no obligation, and no referral fee is paid to anyone for sending you here.

Speak to a clinician+44 1202 653136

Free drug and alcohol services in London

Start here, before you consider paying for anything. These services are free, they are local, and for a great many people they are enough on their own. We publish them because a centre that only tells you about its own programme is not giving you the full picture.

There is no single London drug and alcohol service. Each of the thirty two boroughs commissions its own using its public health budget, so the provider, the location and the offer change at every borough boundary, and eligibility follows your home address. Every borough service accepts self-referral: you do not need a GP appointment first, you can phone, email or walk in and ask for an assessment, and most triage within days. Some run open-access drop-ins, for example Islington, and some are first-come first-served in person, for example Lambeth at Lorraine Hewitt House in Brixton. Find your borough, then search its name with "drug and alcohol service", or use the NHS find-a-service tool linked above. We also have guides for Newham, Hackney, Ealing, Barnet, Greenwich, Enfield, Redbridge and east London.

Checked 28 July 2026. Commissioned services are retendered periodically, so confirm the current provider with the authority before you travel to an appointment.

AA and NA meetings in London

Mutual aid meetings are free, they run most days, and there is no waiting list, no referral and no assessment. You can walk into one this week. They work alongside whatever else you choose rather than instead of it, and plenty of people use them and nothing else.

What actually happens at a first meeting

You do not have to speak, and you do not have to give your surname. Most meetings open with a reading, someone shares for a while, and others speak if they want to. It lasts about an hour, and it is free, though a basket goes round for the room hire. Nobody takes a register and nobody will ask you to commit to anything.

An open meeting can be attended by anyone, including family. A closed meeting is for people who think they may have a problem themselves. If the first group does not suit you, the next one along will feel different, because each has its own character. The usual advice is to try three before deciding it is not for you.

We link the official finders rather than print a timetable, because meeting times and venues change and a stale listing sends someone to a locked door. Checked 28 July 2026.

Private residential rehab for people in London

There is no large, CQC-registered private residential rehab centre in London itself. Residential drug and alcohol rehab for London residents happens either by referral through the NHS service above, or privately at rehab facilities elsewhere, typically in London and the surrounding counties, or in London. Private alcohol rehab centres near London and further afield offer both inpatient rehab and, in some cases, outpatient rehab follow-up. In practice a residential stay almost always means travelling, whichever route you take, which is worth knowing when you weigh up treatment abroad. If you are looking privately, check each treatment centre’s current rating and location on the CQC register before you commit, rather than relying on a directory listing.

What private rehab costs in London, as a guide

Costs vary widely and every centre sets its own fees for its addiction treatment programmes, so treat these as indicative ranges from published directories, not quotations. In England, private rehab treatment is commonly published at around £12,000 to £40,000 for a 28-day stay, with the upper end of that range representing the luxury market. Not all rehabs publish exact rates, so use these treatment options as a guide rather than a fixed price list. Funding routes are limited: most private stays are self-funded or paid by family, some health insurance policies contribute, and NHS-funded residential placements do exist but are assessed and rationed through the community service, so a wait is usual.

Cost ranges checked the date above. Typical published UK ranges, not quotations.

Considering residential treatment abroad?

Sierra Recovery, Málaga, Spain

Most people who look abroad are not chasing sunshine. They are trying to get far enough away from the people, the places and the routine that keep the drinking or the using going, because they have already discovered that stopping while all of that is still fifteen minutes away does not hold. That distance is the whole point, and it is the one thing a clinic near London cannot give you.

Sierra Recovery is a working farmhouse on forty hectares of olive groves in the Málaga countryside, about forty five minutes from the airport and roughly three hours from most UK airports. It is small, the team is English-speaking, and the same clinicians treat you from the first day to the last. What follows is what that actually buys, stated plainly enough that you can compare it with anything else you are considering.

What matters when comparing	Sierra Recovery
Is it actually licensed	A registered health centre entered in the Registro Andaluz de Centros, Servicios y Establecimientos Sanitarios (the Andalusian register of health centres, services and establishments) under N.I.C.A. 67331, authorised by the Junta de Andalucía. You can look it up yourself on the public register.
What it costs, in full	£9,900 for the 28-day residential programme, published on the site up front. All rooms are individual. You get an itemised written quotation before admission.
Who pays whom	No referral fees are paid or accepted, in either direction. Nobody earns a commission for sending you here, which is worth checking about any centre you are comparing.
What the clinical work is	Three group sessions a day five days a week, individual therapy three times a week, and a seventeen-module psychoeducation curriculum. The approach adapts the method of PROMIS Clinics, treating addiction in the United Kingdom since 1986.
Where the limits are	It is not a hospital and not a detox unit. Where a medically supervised detox is clinically needed it is completed in an appropriate medical setting before admission and billed separately. Qualified nurses are part of the team throughout the stay.
Who you speak to first	Our admissions team, all of them clinicians, working to the standards set by our clinical director. The assessment is free, and if a service closer to home suits you better, we will say so.
What happens afterwards	Aftercare is agreed before you leave: a session every week for a full year, online or in person at the PROMIS clinics in London, which is more than 48 sessions in the twelve months after discharge. A written handover goes to your GP so nothing has to be explained from scratch.

Every figure above is published elsewhere on this site and can be checked. See pricing, regulation and licensing and the programme.

Which option is right for you in London

Not every option will suit everyone, but the options available cover most situations. Start with the free NHS and council service if you are unsure, if cost is the barrier, or if you want to stay near family and work. Talk to FRANK, Drinkline or We Are With You if you would rather talk anonymously before doing anything else. Al-Anon if it is someone else’s drinking that is affecting you. Private residential in the UK if you need inpatient rehab and detox together under one roof, are not fit to fly, or need to stay close to home. Treatment abroad only if a private UK stay is out of reach, distance from your usual triggers would help, and you can travel and do not need an immediate hospital detox. Use AA or NA alongside whatever you choose. Any of these routes counts as legitimate addiction treatment; there is no single right answer, only the one that fits your specific needs and supports lasting recovery.

If you have read this far and treatment in Spain still feels like it could be the right fit, the clearest next step is a confidential conversation through admissions, where we will tell you honestly if a London or wider UK route would serve you better.