Hi , I was hoping someone on here may be able to help :)

It looks like my great  auntie will be going into a nursing home soon. She has had alziemers for quite a few years which has got much worse recently and my mum can no longer cope with being her sole carer ( physically and mentally ) . She has now started turning her heating off at the mains and even pulling the controls out of the wall - my mum has to change / wash / clean etc for her cause she refuses to let anyone else in her house.

My mum also has a full time job and has to look after my brother too.  She has been trying to do it herself so my g.auntie can stay in her own home.

I was just wondering the costs of being in a nursing home because if ( when ) she goes in mum will have to sell her house. I was going to offer to live there and pay rent to go towards her care instead so that mum doesn't have to sell it.

Does anyone have an ides of the costs please?

Many thanks , Kate

I worked part time in a Nursing home, and the fees were about £350 -£400 a week, depending on the area, and if it privatley ran.

Both my in-laws have dementia and are in different homes, each paying about £500 per week.  This is in Solihull.  You have my sympathies as it is a horrible thing for relatives to go through (worse, I think, than for the sufferer, as both my in-laws seem happier than they have even been).  The upset was made much worse in my partner's case because of all the arguing he and his brother had to do with social services, doctors and hospitals, and with the company that owns one of the care homes threatening to throw my mother-in-law out because it took so long to go through the court of protection process (neither had set up an enduring power of attorney, so my partner and his brother had to apply to the CoP to get guardianship of their parents so they could pay the fees, which took 14 months in the case of one parent, and is still ongoing with the other). 
Your aunt will be entitled to attendance allowance (£67 pw at the higher level, which I would think she is at by the sounds of things) and, of course, her pension could be used towards the cost of care.  Depending on how much this is and how much rent you envisage paying, you might find that it's possible to keep the house.  My partner and his brother are thinking of renting out their parents' flat rather than selling it.  I believe (though I may be wrong) that you are not obliged to sell until after the person's death, so it might - in the present climate - be better to hang onto it if you can.

Thank you both for your replies.

My mum got power of attorney a couple of years ago as she had to take over eberything to do with her auntie so hopefully there shouldn't be too much trouble with that.

Mum is having a meeting with a man from social services tomorrow at my great aunties' house - which she is not looking forward to ( this man has been out before when my g.aunt tried to light a fake fire. She was very abusive to my mum when this happened so mum is worried how she's going to react. It's just she's not safe on her own anymore.  

Do you know the time length of the process staring to when you go into a nursing home. Only asking as im worried that my mum is going to have a breakdown or something if this carries on much longer

Thank you so much for your help so far xx

In the case of both my in-laws, it was quite quick - less than a week.  However, when they were placed they were both in hospital because of accidents caused by their dementia, and the hospital bed manager was desperate to get them off the ward.   It sounds like you may have the same problem my partner had when he and his brother initially tried to suggest to their parents that they move to a nursing home, which is that they didn't want to go, and - of course - no one has the right to make them go.  That can only happen if the person is sectioned, which is a last resort and which social services will be extremely unwilling to do for most people who have dementia or Alzheimer's.  I completely understand how your mum feels - it is an awful situation.