An extra 71,000 care home places will be needed in England by 2025 in order to cope with an ageing population, new research has revealed.

A study led by Newcastle University has predicted the increase in life expectancy will place a ‘significant’ burden on families as the number of older people with complex needs rises.

It found that tens of thousand of extra care homes places will be needed by 2025, raising concerns over the implications for health and social care services.

Professor Carol Jagger, from Newcastle University’s Institute for Ageing, said: ‘If dependency prevalence remains constant, we estimate that by 2025 there will be an additional 353,000 older people with substantial care needs.

‘While many of these people will live in the community, at current rates of provision, this will mean a shortfall of more than 71,000 care home places by 2025.

‘Our findings have considerable implications for relatives as older people will have complex needs, requiring sustained input from family carers or social care teams to support independent living.’

In response to the study, which was published in the Lancet, Margaret Willcox president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), said: ‘As most people expect to need some form of care in their lifetime, there is an urgent need for the whole country to consider how best to ensure people with care needs are supported how their care is funded.

‘Unless a long-term sustainable solution is established to tackle significant sector pressures, a rising number of elderly and disabled people living longer and with increasingly complex needs, along with their families and carers, will struggle to receive the personal, dignified care they depend on and deserve.’

One of Britain’s foremost experts on safeguarding the elderly has warned that the power of attorney system is 'deeply flawed'.