My mum had to go into a care home when her dementia became a risk to her safety - she was wandering the streets at night and knocking on shop doors to ask why they weren't open. I didn't live close by and knew none of this but all her neighbours did and never said a dicky bird to me. I learned when the police rang me one night to say she had been reported waiting for a non-existent bus at 3 a.m. and they had taken her home. I learnt even more shocking tales of her behaviour when I talked to her neighbours in more detail.
We had earlier taken out an insurance policy which would have paid a (substantial) amount for care fees after 3 years but in the meantime we sold her house and used the proceeds to pay for a nice (but not posh) care home. She died of an unrelated health problem after 9 months so we still had a fair amount of the house proceeds left but never claimed on the insurance policy so the (high) cost was wasted. I didn't mind that cos I always knew it was a risk but one I was prepared to take. Such insurance policies are now illegal.
As some have said there are two "levels" of care, one is where "hospital-style care" is needed (e.g. specialist care/treatment) which is free in specialist care homes but apparently needs fighting for very hard, and more general care where the person has no serious health issues but could have dementia. The costs are considered to be "hotel costs" so unless you have virtually no assets you must pay the entire bill. This would usually be from your income (pensions, bank interest, and you would get Attendance Allowance too) plus any addition the care home chooses to add (which can be a lot of money) so the home must be used to finance this - providing there is no spouse or dependent child still living there. It doesn't HAVE to be sold, the local authority will allow a debt to be accrued for the unpaid amount and reclaim it on the eventual sale, so it could be rented out to produce income.
As already said on here, that presupposes there is someone prepared to manage all that for an unspecified period. If the money runs out the LA will pay the care fees but if the home charges more than the LA is prepared to pay the person might have to move. That can be terribly distressing. However, many care homes charge lower rates in this case or they would not fill all their rooms. The private residents make a bit of profit for them.
Contrary to some opinions, care homes do not make huge profits - things such as legal requirements, insurance, the percentage of trained staff as well as general running costs and wages, never mind improvements, redecorating etc soon eat into profits. Plus many homes find it difficult to attract and retain good staff and have to resort to high agency fees to meet the need.
Care in the home is about the same cost as a care home with the problem of staff changing often, being absent, not being dedicated, and no-one else taking responsibility for it.
And yes, as with everything in life, there is something that grates when a person lives without making any provision for anything seems to get away with everything for free when others make the effort to provide for themselves.
