Disabled Facilities Grant: Who Gets It and How to Apply

You could get a grant from your council if you are disabled and need to make changes to your home. GOV.UK gives these examples of who it is for: someone who is physically disabled, has a learning disability, has age-related needs, is autistic, has a cognitive impairment like dementia, has a progressive condition like motor neurone disease, has a terminal illness, or has a mental health condition.

You might need to:

• ✓Yes: widen doors and install ramps or grab rails
• ✓Yes: improve access to rooms and facilities, for example with a stairlift, or level access shower
• ✓Yes: improve access to your garden
• ✓Yes: build an extension, for example a downstairs bedroom
• ✓Yes: provide a heating system suitable for your needs
• ✓Yes: adapt heating or lighting controls to make them easier to use

The law behind the grant lists the purposes it can be approved for, including access to and from the home, a room used for sleeping, a room with a lavatory, bath or shower, preparing and cooking food, improving a heating system, and making it easier to use a source of power, light or heat. A Disabled Facilities Grant will not affect any benefits you get.

Some councils may give more. The England and Wales limits are set by law as the maximum a council may pay in respect of an application. How much you actually get usually depends on your household income and household savings over £6,000, and depending on your income you may need to pay towards the cost of the work.

The means test has a legal basis. Section 30 of the 1996 Act says that if the financial resources of a person of a description set out in regulations exceed the applicable amount, the grant is reduced in accordance with the regulations, and the regulations can take account of the income, assets, needs and outgoings of the applicant's spouse, civil partner or anyone living with them. For a landlord's application, section 31 says the council decides the grant having regard to how far the landlord can charge a higher rent because of the works.

The savings figure also has a legal basis. Regulation 40 of the Housing Renewal Grants Regulations 1996, as changed in England from 2 April 2001, treats capital above £6,000 as equivalent to a weekly tariff income of £1 for each complete £250 above it. In Wales, regulations that came into force on 9 February 2004 set the same £6,000 threshold, with £1 for each complete £250 for a person under 60 and £1 for each complete £500 for a person aged 60 or over.

• ✓Yes: Disabled children under 18 can get a grant without their parents' income being taken into account
• ✓Yes: Landlords can get a grant without their income and savings being taken into account
• ✓Yes: The council may ask for the property to be let to another disabled person if the current tenant moves within 5 years
• ✓Yes: You can apply for another grant for the same property if you need to, for example if your condition changes

To get a grant, you or someone else living in the house must be disabled and intend to live in the property during the grant period, which is usually 5 years but can be shorter, for example if the person is terminally ill. The person who submits the application must be the owner, the tenant or the landlord.

The council needs to be happy that the work is necessary and appropriate to meet the disabled person's needs, and reasonable and practicable depending on the age and condition of the property. That mirrors the test in section 24 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.

Your council must give you a decision within 6 months. The 1996 Act says a council must notify the applicant, as soon as reasonably practicable and in any event not later than six months after the date of the application, whether the application is approved or refused, and if refused it must give the reasons.

You are paid either in instalments as the work progresses, or in full when the work is finished. The council may pay the contractor directly or give you the money to pass on, and they agree this with you when they approve your application. You are paid either when you and the council are happy with the finished work, or when you give the council the invoice, demand or receipt for payment from the contractor.

Normally, if you or a relative do the work, the council will only accept invoices for materials or services you have bought.

GOV.UK's guide does not say a Disabled Facilities Grant must be repaid. It does say that someone must intend to live in the property during the grant period. Under section 52 of the 1996 Act, a council can with the consent of the Secretary of State impose conditions on a grant, including a requirement to repay it on demand, and the council can decide not to demand payment or to demand a lesser amount.

Ask your council for the conditions that come with your grant in writing before you accept it.

You can appeal to your council if you are unhappy with its decision. If you appeal and you are still not happy, you can complain to the Local Government Ombudsman. Our council complaints guide explains the process. If a council has taken too long, remember the 6 month limit for a decision.

In Wales you can get a Disabled Facilities Grant of up to £36,000, set by the Welsh order on the maximum amount. The Welsh Government says that if you need to make changes to your home because of a disability, you can apply for support from one or more of the ENABLE: support for living independently scheme and the Disabled Facilities Grant.

GOV.UK says Disabled Facilities Grants are not available in Scotland. The Scottish Government says you could get care equipment or changes made to your home if you need help with everyday living and are older, disabled or living with a long-term health condition, and that your local council's social care department can arrange these. Care and Repair services help older or disabled homeowners to repair, improve or adapt their homes.

The law is in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006. Under section 71 a council may give assistance to adapt a house for a disabled person, and under section 73 it must provide assistance for that work where the house is, or is likely to become, a disabled person's only or main residence. Under regulation 3 of the Scheme of Assistance Regulations 2008, where the work is structural or involves other permanent changes (leaving out an extension to create additional living accommodation, or living accommodation in a separate building) and is essential to the disabled person's needs, the assistance must be a grant.

Regulation 4 sets the minimum grant at 80% of the approved expense, or 100% where the applicant or certain members of their household get income support, income-based jobseeker's allowance, guarantee credit, income-related employment and support allowance or universal credit. The council assesses the applicant's contribution (regulation 5). Universal credit was added to the list by the Welfare Reform (Consequential Amendments) (Scotland) (No. 2) Regulations 2013, although legislation.gov.uk had not applied that change to the text of regulation 4 when we checked. Your council's Scheme of Assistance sets out how it applies these rules.

In Northern Ireland a Disabled Facilities Grant comes from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and helps adapt a home for a person with a disability based on an occupational therapist's recommendation. Owner occupiers, landlords or private tenants can get help to carry out adaptations if there is a person with a disability living in the house.

Only works recommended by your local occupational therapist, unless agreed differently by the local health trust and the Housing Executive, can be considered. Contact your local Health and Social Services Trust, which will answer your questions, start the process and contact the Housing Executive. You can also speak to your GP or social worker. Work must not start until you have approval from the Housing Executive. You are paid when the work is finished and acceptable to the occupational therapist and the Housing Executive and you have sent the Housing Executive all accounts, receipts and certificates.