Is your house being taken over by wheelchairs or medications or do you need to majke adaptions to your property in order that your disabled child can get around the home safely?

You may be entitled to a disabled facilities grant to help fund it.

What are disabled facilities grants?

Disabled facilities grants are grants provided by your council (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.

Who can get them?

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
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.

Who is a disabled person?

You are treated as disabled if one of the following applies:

your sight, hearing or speech is substantially impaired
you have a mental disorder or impairment of any kind
you are substantially physically disabled by illness, injury, impairment present since birth, or otherwise
you are registered (or could be registered) disabled with the social services department.

What can you get a grant for?
You can get a grant to help a disabled person:

have easier access to and from the property (such as widening doors or installing ramps).
make the property safe for the him or her 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 room used or that can be used as the principal family room.
have easier access to a room used or that can be used as 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).
have easier access to your garden or make access to your garden safe for you - your garden can include a yard, outhouse or other facility within the boundary of land attached to your dwelling. It can also include a balcony or land next to the mooring of a houseboat.

Applying for a disabled facilities grant

Disabled facilities grants are normally paid by your local housing authority (your local Housing Executive Grants Office in Northern Ireland) who should provide you with an application form.

You will usually be asked to sign a certificate stating that the disabled occupant will live in the property for at least 5 years after the works are completed, or a shorter period if there are health or other special reasons.

A council cannot refuse to allow you to make a formal application or refuse to give you an application form.

You should not have any work carried out on the property until your council approves the application. If the work is urgent, you should contact the council to discuss this. You will also need to ensure that you separately get any planning or building approval needed.

How much is it?

The maximum grant payable under a mandatory disabled facilities grant is £30,000 in England, £25,000 in Northern Ireland and £36,000 in Wales. The grant will only be paid when the council are satisfied that the work has been completed to their satisfaction and in accordance with the grant approval.

The actual amount of disabled facilities grant that someone can get depends on the income and savings of the disabled person and his or her 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 ).

Disabled children
Parents income is not taken into account for adaptations for disabled children and young person's under the age of 19.

Can my council refuse to give me a grant?
A disabled facilities grant is compulsory but 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 services department first for an assessment by an occupational therapist .

How long should an assessment take? [b]
There is a 6-month time limit for the local authority/council 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.

To find out who your local council is please check the following link:

http://local.direct.gov.uk/LDGRedirect/Start.do?mode=1

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Our Irish members can also use our new website for Ireland which is

We needed to move the bathroom downstairs, but we needed an OT to agree to it. A private ot offered a report, but it had to be a council approved OT and neither the NHS one or the private one counted! After a year, we said sod it and did it anyway.

The good news is that we got a 10% discount for our council tax after that.

does this count if you need an extra bedroom, do children with autism need there own bedroom?

I got euan his own room through the council on medical grounds because of his medical equipment but you can, with council or housing association, get an extra room for a child who is autistic, i am sure it is something to do with them being a danger to others or disturbing others and needing their own space. I am not sure how it works if you own the property, they would probably just expect you to move. Also if you take a bigger property because someone needs their own room on medical grounds (and they agree) you can get a reduction on council tax for the extra room.

xx

i have had to give my oldest my daughters room as he cant cope being in with reece any longer as its affecting him being tired and just being attacked all the time for nothing, my daughters in with me. but as they all get older this isnt ideal.