My mum is in a nursing home. The fees are £450 per week for a Local Authority funded resident, £575 per week for a self funded resident. My mum's property has yet to be sold so she is on a deferred payment scheme - the Local Authority have a charge on her property and they will be paid back when the house is sold. However, if the house is sold she will instantly start paying an extra £125 in nursing home fees. For some reason the debt that is accruing to the Local Authority is only running at £450 per week. Therefore there is no incentive to sell her house. I also do not understand how a nursing home can charge its self funded residents so much more than they charge the Local Authority. I understand that there is a maximum amount that each Local Authority will pay, presumably £450 minus the resident's income apart from £18.80 personal allowance but don't understand why the self funded residents are paying so much more and, in effect, subsidising the places of Local Authority funded residents. Doesn't this mean that self funded residents are being penalised twice - firstly by having to pay for care which should be free and secondly paying more than the Local Authority does! Has anyone else come across this?