Disabled facilities grants (DFGs) are grants provided by your local authority to help meet the cost of adapting a property for the needs of a disabled person. The scheme operates in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Contents
What if the grant isn't enough?
How long should the DFG assessment take?
Who can get DFGs?
To be eligible for a disabled facilities grant, you must be one of the following:
- an owner occupier;
- a private tenant;
- a landlord with a disabled tenant;
- a local authority tenant; or
- a housing association tenant.
Some occupiers of caravans and houseboats are also eligible.
If you are one of the above and applying for the grant for someone else who is disabled, you need to state this on your application.
You may be able to get help with adaptations as part of a care and support package provided by your local social care department.
You are treated as disabled if:
- your sight, hearing or speech is substantially impaired;
- you have a mental disorder or impairment of any kind; or
- you are physically substantially disabled by illness, injury, impairment present since birth or otherwise.
The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 is the main legislation for disabled facilities grants.
What can you get a DFG for?
You can get a grant to help a disabled person:
- have easier access to and from the home (such as widening doors or installing ramps);
- make the home safe for them and others living with them (such as a specially adapted room where a disabled person could be left safely unattended or providing improved lighting for a disabled person with sight problems);
- have easier access to a living room;
- have easier access to, or providing, a bedroom;
- have easier access to a room in which there is a lavatory, bath or shower (such as by providing a stairlift);
- by providing a room in which there is a lavatory, bath or shower, and wash-hand basin;
- use a lavatory, bath or shower or wash-hand basin;
- prepare and cook food;
- by improving or providing a suitable heating system;
- use a source of power, light or heat (for example adapting heating or lighting controls to make them easier to use);
- have easier access and movement around the home to enable the disabled person to care for someone dependent on them, who also lives there (such as a child, husband, wife or partner); or
- have easier access to the garden or make access to the garden safe - the garden can include a yard, outhouse or other facility within the boundary of land attached to your home. It can also include a balcony or land next to the mooring of a houseboat.
Applying for a DFG
Disabled facilities grants are normally paid by your local housing authority who should provide you with an application form. A local authority cannot refuse to allow you to make a formal application or refuse to give you an application form.
In Northern Ireland contact your local Health and Social Care Trust, who will answer your questions, start the process and contact the Housing Executive.
You should not have any work carried out on the property until your local authority approves the application. If the work is urgent, you should contact the local authority to discuss this. You will also need to ensure that you separately get any planning or building approval needed.
How much is a DFG?
The maximum grant payable under a disabled facilities grant (DFG) is £30,000 in England, £25,000 in Northern Ireland and £36,000 in Wales. The grant will only be paid when the local authority is satisfied that the work has been completed to their satisfaction and in accordance with the grant approval.
The actual amount of DFG that someone can get depends on the income and savings of the disabled person (and their partner), even if the disabled person has not actually applied for the grant (such as when an application is made by a landlord with a disabled tenant).
The income and savings test is similar, but not identical, to that for pre-universal credit means-tested benefits (such as income support). In all cases, the first £6,000 of any savings are ignored.
If the disabled person's income and savings are below the test limits, there will be no need for them to contribute to the cost of the works.
If the disabled person's income and savings are more than the test limits, then a contribution will be required from them towards the cost of the works.
There is no means test for a DFG if an application is made for the benefit of a child or a young person under the age of 19 for whom child benefit is payable. A means test may not be applied to a small or medium disabled facilities grant in Wales, depending on your local authority.
For more detailed information on how DFGs are calculated, see our Disability Rights Handbook.
What if the grant isn't enough?
You may be able to get help under other local authority housing grant schemes.
Can I be refused a DFG?
A disabled facilities grant is mandatory (ie you are entitled to one if you meet the conditions for it). However, in order to approve an application, the local housing authority must be satisfied that the works are both ‘necessary and appropriate’ for the needs of the disabled person, and ‘reasonable and practicable’ in relation to the property.
In order to check whether the works are necessary and appropriate, the local housing authority usually refers you to the social care department first for an assessment by an occupational therapist.
How long should the DFG assessment take?
There is a 6-month time limit for the local authority to give you a decision. This starts from the date of your formal application. Sometimes your local authority may specify a date of payment for the grant, but this should be no later than 12 months from the date on which you made your application.
Complaints
If you do not get a decision within six months of applying, write and ask why and request that a decision be made.
Seek legal advice if you still do not get a decision, or if you have been prevented from applying in the first place.
For more information, see Complaining about local authority decisions
In Northern Ireland, you can complain to the Housing Executive.
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If you are an adviser see our Disability Rights Handbook