Grants for Home Adaptations

All local councils offer a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG), a scheme for making changes to your home and installing items that can help you stay independent, such as stairlifts and shower seats.

To get the grant, the overall cost needs to be above £1,000, but most councils also have a budget to pay for small changes that cost under £1,000 and this is usually not means tested.

You cannot get a DFG for work that has already started so you will need to make enquiries before any work begins.

You will need to initially request a free care needs assessment from your local council. They will send a social worker or an occupational therapist to assess your needs and make recommendations on what equipment, adaptations and help you need. If they consider your needs to be ‘eligible’, the council will have a duty to offer you help.

The grant could cover the cost of adapting your home up to the value of £30,000 in England, although this does depend on your income and savings.

Sometimes local authorities will pay more if it saves them money in the long run.

And some local charities will pay if you cannot get the grant from your local council.

Housing associations and co-operatives manage the grant in different ways so you may want to ask what the policy is if this is relevant to you.

National Health Service (NHS)

Usually you can only get NHS equipment if you need something urgently. Some community NHS services can make recommendations for small non-urgent changes to your home, but larger adaptations tend to go through your local council.

An occupational therapist might look at your house to see if it is safe and accessible so that you can either be discharged from hospital or an intermediate rehabilitation unit.

Local Care and Repair Groups or Home Improvement Agencies (HIA) Grants.

These help disabled and older people to stay in safe housing. They can help you find local schemes and grants to help with the cost of any changes that you could make to your home that could help you.

Where grants are unavailable, many companies do have easy payment terms or the ability to rent equipment. Click here for details of our flexible rental stairlift services.

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