Adapting your home

Certain adaptations work for disabled people is zero-rated for VAT when it is carried out on your private residence. It includes:

• building ramps and/or widening doorways and passages to make access easier for a disabled person;  
• installing a lift between floors to make access easier, including the maintenance, repair and restoration of decorations; and 
• work to bathrooms and toilets to make them easier to use by a disabled person and any items supplied in connection with this: for example, grab rails or a bath seat.

The supplier (that is, the person or firm carrying out the work) must be registered for VAT, and the disabled person must make a declaration claiming zero rating which the supplier keeps. For more information about zero rating contact your local Customs and Excise office. Its address and telephone number will be in your phone book.

Before you make any adaptations it is important to get expert advice. An occupational therapist can look at the difficulties you are having and suggest equipment and adaptations to meet your particular needs. You can ask your local social services department to arrange for an occupational therapist to visit. In addition, the Disabled Living Foundation and the Centre for Accessible Environments can both advise you on the sort of adaptations that might be possible. You can contact these organisations at the addresses below.

Centre for Accessible Environments
70 South Lambeth Road
London SW8 1RL
Tel: 020 7840 0125
Email: info@cae.org.uk
Web: www.cae.org.uk

Disabled Living Foundation
380–384 Harrow Road
London W9 2HU
Helpline: 0845 130 9177
Web: www.dlf.org.uk

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Paying for adaptations if you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland

Whether you are a home-owner, tenant or you live with your relatives, you may qualify for financial help with the cost of adapting your home. But remember, if you are applying for help from your local council to adapt your home, don’t carry out any work until your grant application has been approved; if you do, your application will be turned down.

Disabled facilities grant

Every local council has a legal obligation to offer disabled facilities grants to people who need them. This grant is for essential adaptations which help you to move in and out of and around your home more easily and safely; and which give you access to your kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living room.

The types of work you might have carried out with a disabled facilities grant include:

• installing a lift;
• providing a toilet and shower downstairs;
• installing a ramp and grab rails to the front door;
• moving and adapting light switches and heating controls to make them easier to use; and 
• widening doorways and installing ramps for wheelchair access
• improving access to your garden.

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Who can apply for a disabled facilities grant

You can claim if you, or someone living in your home, is disabled and:

• you, or the person on whose behalf you are applying, are either the owner or tenant (including licensees) of the property; and 
• you can show that you, or the person on whose behalf you are applying, intend to live in the property as your/their only or main home throughout the grant period – currently five years.

A landlord may apply on behalf of a disabled tenant.

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How to apply for a disabled facilities grant

Applications for disabled facilities grants are processed by the housing department at your local council (or your local Housing Executive grants office if you are in Northern Ireland). Contact the housing department (or grants office) and ask for an application form for a disabled facilities grant.

Often the council will have two application forms, an initial enquiry form and a formal application form. The initial enquiry form will ask for details of the adaptations you want carried out, and basic information about the disabled person who needs the adaptations. If your situation is urgent, you may be able to go straight to the formal application stage. The formal application form is quite complex and you may need help completing it. A local home improvement agency may be able to assist you (see Section 4). Once the council has received your completed formal application form it must make a decision within six months.

Before the council will approve the grant, it must consult with the social services department to make sure the adaptations are necessary and appropriate. This will usually mean that social services will arrange for an occupational therapist to visit to assess what adaptations you need. To avoid delays, it is a good idea to contact social services as soon as you decide you want to apply for a disabled facilities grant. You should explain that you want to apply for a disabled facilities grant and ask for an assessment of your needs.

Council or housing association tenants may also apply for disabled facilities grants. The council may decide, in the case of one of its own properties, to pay for adaptations itself rather than through the disabled facilities grant system. In this case the work should be carried out on the same terms as if a disabled facilities grant had been awarded.

When a housing association tenant applies for a disabled facilities grant the council can take into account the fact that the housing association may be able to fund the adaptations itself or with funding from the Housing Corporation. This does not mean it will automatically reject the disabled facilities grant application but it should make sure that the option of other available funding is looked into. 

The council will carry out a means test to assess how much (if anything) you can afford to pay towards the cost of the work. If you are receiving any means-tested benefits, or rely mainly on your State Retirement Pension and have few savings, you are likely to qualify for a full disabled facilities grant. Certain benefits – including Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance – are generally ignored. The maximum disabled facilities grant is £30,000 in England and Wales, and £25,000 in Northern Ireland.

The means test should only take into account the income and savings of the person who needs the adaptations and their spouse or partner. Capital is included in the means test. The first £6,000 of savings is disregarded. If you need the adaptations but your home is actually owned by your son or daughter or another relation, their income and savings will be ignored. Similarly, if you are a tenant, your landlord will not be expected to pay anything towards the cost of the work (but you will need to get the landlord’s permission before any work is carried out).

If you are a tenant and your landlord applies for the disabled facilities grant instead of you, you will not be means-tested or asked to pay towards the adaptations yourself. Your landlord may ask you to guarantee that you will remain in the property for a specific length of time before agreeing to apply for the grant, but this could be worth it, especially if you have savings. Housing associations can also apply on your behalf in the same way.

If you are refused a disabled facilities grant, or are unhappy with the amount you have been awarded, you can appeal against the officer’s decision. Ask your local council for its appeals and complaints procedure. If the grant is approved, the work should usually be completed within one year.

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Other financial help for disabled people

Your council may give other grants or loans as an alternative to the disabled facilities grant. Particularly in the case of small-scale adaptations this can be a much quicker way of getting the work done. It can also provide extra money to top-up a disabled facilities grant or to help you move house if you both agree this would be better than adapting your current home. But this help is discretionary – your council doesn’t have to give it. Each council will have its own policy on funding housing adaptations for disabled people. Ask to see a copy.

Help from social services

You may get some equipment and adaptations provided by your social services department, if it has assessed you as needing them. These will be things that help you to live at home or aid daily living: for example, grab rails. If you live in Wales or Northern Ireland, social services can charge for equipment and adaptations. But if you live in England, social services should pay for:

• community care equipment; and
• minor adaptations up to a cost of £1,000.

See our free advice leaflet Help in Your Home for more information about getting an assessment and help from social services.

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Paying for adaptations if you live in Scotland

If you are disabled you may qualify for financial assistance towards the cost of adaptations. You can get grants for repairs and adaptations to properties in Scotland from your local council if you are an owner or private tenant. Details of these grants are set out in the Scottish Executive booklet Housing Grants which should be available from your local council.

Councils must give you a grant (within the limits of their budgets) for the following types of work:

• installing any standard amenities, where the house does not already have  them. Standard amenities are:
  • a fixed bath or shower with a hot and cold water supply;
  • a wash-hand basin with a hot and cold water supply;
  • a sink with a hot and cold water supply; and
  • a toilet.
• installing any additional standard amenities which are needed because a disabled occupant cannot use the existing ones. For example, if you have a toilet upstairs but cannot easily climb up the stairs, you can claim a grant to put in a ground floor toilet.

The cost of making some adaptations may be met through the grants mentioned in Section 1. If the grant is approved it should meet at least 50 per cent of the agreed cost of the adaptation.

Alternatively you can apply to your local council social work department for an assessment under the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986. Whatever equipment or adaptations you are assessed as needing must be provided and grants up to 100 per cent of the cost can be awarded.

You can also get a discretionary improvement grant of up to £20,000, to make a house more suitable for the needs of a disabled person. If you get a grant the following must apply for a period of five years after the payment of the grant:

• the house must only be used as a private dwelling (although parts can be used for another purpose, eg for business); 
• the house may not be used as a second or holiday home; and 
• the house must, as far a possible, be kept in a good state of repair.

If the cost of the works exceeds the set grant limit and the local council considers there are extraordinary reasons for this, it can apply to the Scottish Executive for an increase in the grant limit.

Any community care equipment that counts as personal care (for example, sound or movement light controls) must be provided free to people aged 65 and over.

For more information, Age Concern Scotland produces a useful fact sheet, 'Older homeowners - financial help with repairs and adaptations'. Advice for people who live in rented housing and need help with repairs or adaptations is in Age Concern Scotland's factsheets 'Tenants rights' and 'Private tentants' rights'. 

If you would like further advice and assistance with adapting your home, contact a local home improvement agency.