THOUSANDS of older residents are “inappropriately placed into residential care” because Essex County Council does not have suitable accommodation.

The council is trying to rectify the problem by developing 2,500 new independent living units.

A report to Essex County Council’s cabinet said: “Independent living schemes enable people to live more independently and also allow the council to provide care at a lower cost.”

The units are intended for people aged 55 and over who receive homecare services or who have a social care need of four to 16 hours per week.

Some of these people are in residential homes because there is nowhere else for them.

The report said there are about 5,000 people in this category and 2,000 of them are believed to be in the wrong type of accommodation.

A total of 700 units are operating or in development but the council still needs to find room for another 1,800 or build the units itself.

The report continued: “Without incentives, housing developers have not built independent living accommodation.”