How do I pay for home adaptations? Published by Home Care UK.

• Stairlifts
• Bath lift
• Walk in shower
• Grab rail
• Widened door ways
• Lowered kitchen worktops
• Outdoor ramp or step rail
• Outside lights
• Intercom system.

As well as making your home safer, having the right adaptations could enable you to stay in your home for longer by making it more suitable to your needs. It is also cost-effective, home adaptations reduce the risk of accidents and injury in the home, as well as potential care home fees if the home is no longer suitable. It is estimated that home adaptations have a potential saving of £500 million per year for the NHS and social care services.

Despite it being proven to be cost-effective, it’s not uncommon for people requiring home adaptations to report that their home is unsuitable due to them not receiving the help they need to make the necessary changes. In fact, this is more common for younger people and those aged under 55 are 30% more likely to report their house as unsuitable compared to older age groups.

Home adaptations can be costly, but there are a variety of ways to access the funds for adaptations depending on your individual circumstances and requirements.

Home assessments

Before most adaptations can be installed, you will need to have an assessment of your home. Home assessments will be carried out free of charge by your local council. These assessments aim to identify what type of adaptations you need and the financial help that you can get towards these. Home assessments might also refer you to a needs assessment which can identify assistance you need outside of home adaptations, such as meal preparation services or a paid carer.

The person conducting your home assessment will consider your current needs as well as your potential future needs. For example, if you have been diagnosed with an illness, the potential progression of this will be taken into account.

To receive a home assessment, you need to contact your local council. An occupational therapist will attend your home at an agreed time, they will ask you questions about your current situation and look around your home to see where you would benefit from adaptations.

During this assessment, it’s important to be as honest as possible. Although it can be difficult, being honest about the things you are struggling with will make sure that you receive the assistance you need, and can live your life as independently and safely as possible.

It might be a good idea to have a partner, family member or friend with you during a home assessment. They can offer support to you and take notes. Alternatively, you can also use an advocate. An advocate is a specially assigned person who will accompany you during the assessment. They can speak on your behalf if you want them to, and they can also help you with things such as filling out forms. Advocates are usually free.

Home adaptations in England

Under the Care Act (2014), local authorities in England cannot charge for minor home adaptations that help a person to carry out daily tasks and living. Minor adaptations include things such as hand rails outside or in the bath/shower or a short ramp to get in and out of the home.

This means that minor home adaptations will be funded by your local council. This is usually at a cost of £1000 or less (per adaptation) and isn’t impacted by your personal financial situation, i.e., you will not be means tested to receive the funds for minor adaptations.

However, your local council will still need to determine whether you are eligible for the adaptations. Once you have been deemed eligible, you may be put on a waiting list.

Housing associations sometimes manage minor home adaptations differently. For example, a housing association might act as a private landlord and in this case they will ask you to apply to your local council for adaptations. In other cases, housing associations will have their own funds available for home adaptations.

If you are a housing association tenant and require home adaptations, you should contact your association to find out what their policy is.

Home adaptations in Scotland

If you are adapting your home for a disabled person in Scotland, government assistance is available to help you cover the cost of any work required. Following a home assessment by the social work department, the council will make recommendations for ways to make life easier for the disabled person, including any relevant adaptations.

If you are a home owner or own part of your home through a shared ownership or shared equity scheme, you can apply for a grant for home adaptations. If you are a private tenant, you’ll need to get permission to install adaptations from your landlord. However, landlords cannot refuse a request for adaptations without a good reason.

For home owners and private tenants, the local authority must give a grant for any changes they decide are essential. This is called a ‘mandatory grant’. There is no lower or upper limit on the amount of a mandatory grant which is given, but your local authority will check that the cost of the work is reasonable.

There are two levels of mandatory grant:

• Everyone will get 80% of the costs of the work being carried out – this is regardless of your financial situation including your income, any benefits you receive or any savings you have
• Some people will get 100% of the costs covered by the grant. This applies to anybody who receives any of the following benefits:
  • Income Support
  • Income Based Jobseeker’s Allowance
  • Pension Credit (guarantee element)
  • Income Related employment and Support Allowance.

If you are not receiving any of the benefits listed above and would find it difficult to pay 20% of the cost of the works required, there is additional financial assistance available. For example, some authorities will ‘top up’ the 80% of the grant to meet a higher proportion of the cost of the adaptation(s). This will be means tested. Your local authority can advise you on different ways to fund the adaptations.

Any work funded through the mandatory grant must have been deemed as essential, meaning that you need to have the work done to make the home accessible for yourself or somebody in your household.

If you are a council or housing association tenant, you should let your landlord know if you need adaptations in your home. In most cases, adaptations will be carried out by the council or housing association free of charge to you.

Home adaptations in Wales

ENABLE: support for independent living (Wales)

The Support for Independent Living Scheme offers financial support for installing home adaptations for people who own or rent their home.

The Independent Living Scheme includes three broad categories:

• Small – small adaptations will not require a means test or the involvement of an occupational therapist. There will be a short delivery time target, and each adaptation is expected to cost no more than £1000. Small adaptations include things like grab rails and stair rails
• Medium – medium adaptations include things such as walk-in showers, stair lifts and ramps. An occupational therapist will usually be asked to be involved, and some adaptations in this category will require a means test. Medium adaptations are expected to cost between £1,001 and £10,000
• Large – large category adaptations usually require major structural changes to a property and/or extensions to it. An assessment by an occupational therapist will need to take place and all major adaptations will be means tested. Large adaptions cover anything which costs over £10,000.

People who rent their home from a local authority or housing association will be exempt from means testing for the costs of adaptations.

If you do not meet the criteria for financial support, you may be required to pay towards the cost of minor adaptations. This will be dependent on your needs and financial situation.

If you are required to pay, this charge must be ‘reasonable’ for you based on your personal financial circumstances.

To find more information, you should contact your local social services or Care and Repair Agency.

Home adaptations in Northern Ireland

If you are a home owner or a private tenant, you can get assistance for minor home adaptations through your local Trust, usually without an assessment from an occupational therapist. In most cases, this will cover amendments which cost less than £1000. If a number of adaptations are required which accumulatively cost over £1000, this may require additional steps such as an assessment of needs.

If you are a housing association tenant, a number of minor adaptations are available from your landlord without an assessment from an occupational therapist. These will be free of charge. Major adaptations can also be funded through your landlord, but these will require the go-ahead from an occupational therapist following an assessment of your needs and your home.

Click here to find more information.

A range of grants are available to help with the cost of home adaptations and their upkeep in Northern Ireland. These include:

• Repair grant
• Renovation grant
• Replacement grant
• Home repair assistance grant.

National schemes

Disabled Facilities Grant

A Disabled Facilities Grant is a sum of money provided to a disabled person to help them make changes to their home.

To be eligible for a Disabled Facilities Grant, you need to either:

• Own the property or be a tenant
• Intend to live in the property during the grant period (which is currently 5 years)
• Be a landlord with a disabled tenant.

Adaptations covered by the Disabled Facilities Grant can include:

• Widening doors
• Installing ramps
• Improving access to rooms and facilities – for example, stairlifts or a downstairs bathroom
• Providing a suitable heating system
• Adapting heating or lighting controls to make them easier to use.

How much you receive will depend on your household income and any household savings.

The current caps in the UK are:

• England – Up to £30,000
• Wales – Up to £36,000
• Northern Ireland – Up to £25,000.

Disabled Facilities Grants are not currently available in Scotland. This is because most adaptations can be funded through the local council.

If you are a higher earner or have a lot of money in savings, you might be asked to pay towards the cost of home adaptations.

A Disabled Facilities Grant is separate to any other benefits you receive.

When you have been approved for a Disabled Facilities Grant, there are different methods you can take to make adaptations for your home.

These include:

• Sourcing contractors yourself – this way, the council may pay you money as the work progresses (in instalments) or they might wait until they have approved the work at the end and give you the lump sum on completion
• Using approved contractors – this will be the same process as sourcing contractors yourself, but it might be an easier process
• Carrying out the work yourself – in this case, the council will only pay for materials and supplies for the work and not the cost of labour.

All work needs to be approved before commencement. If you start work before it is approved, you might not receive the funds to pay for this.

Independence at Home

Independence at Home is a UK charity that provides grants to people who have a physical or learning disability or long term illness and who are in financial need. They can help towards the cost of equipment, home adaptations or other essential items to help you continue to live independently, comfortably and safely.

For example, a grant could go towards:

• A powered wheelchair, improving mobility in and around the home and in the local community
• A riser-recliner chair, to be able to sit comfortably and go from sitting to standing more easily
• A wet room, to be able to have a shower independently and safely.

Grants range from £300 to £600.

To receive financial assistance from Independence at Home, you need to be referred by a professional health or social care worker, or by a charity. This person will submit an application on your behalf, Independence at Home do not take applications from individual members of the public.

Personal funding

If you are fortunate enough to be in a position to fund any adaptations you need yourself, this may be a good option where other routes are not available. Personally funding any adaptations also means that work can begin as soon as you are happy to go ahead, and at a time that suits you.

You should do as much research as you can before you make any final decisions to ensure you are choosing the best adaptations for you and are receiving the best price for these. It might be a good idea to enlist the help of a family member or friend if possible.

There are also organisations dedicated to helping people find the best options for adaptations. These organisations will point you in the right direction as to what you might need and where you can get this from.

Living Made Easy

Living Made Easy is provided by the DLF, a charity previously known as the Disabled Living Foundation. They provide free and impartial advice and information on solutions, gadgets, adaptations and aids to make life easier.

If you are looking to fund your own home adaptations, you can use Living Made Easy to find information on different types of equipment and current retailers in the UK.

Information is provided for equipment such as:

• Stairs and lifts
• Walking aids
• Wheelchairs, scooters and buggies
• Mobility services
• Cars and travel.

Not all retailers are signed up to Living Made Easy, so there might be alternative options that are not shown.

Ask SARA

Ask SARA, part of Living Made Easy, is an online tool. By answering a number of questions, you will be given a report detailing different things you might find helpful in your everyday life, including equipment or ideas to help, as well as details of where you can buy these things.

Home Improvement Agencies (HIA)

Home Improvement Agencies (HIAs) are organisations that help people who are older, disabled, or vulnerable to continue living safely and independently for as long as possible. They provide information, advice and support for people to make modifications to their homes.

There are almost 200 HIAs located across England. They are sometimes known as ‘Care & Repair’ or ‘Staying Put’ schemes.

HIAs provide assistance with:

• Housing options
• Disabled adaptations
• Home repairs/handyperson
• Hospital discharge and re-ablement
• Making homes more energy efficient
• Welfare and benefits advice.

Click here to find out more about your local HIA and what services are available.

Help and support

To apply for a home assessment Apply for equipment for your home if you’re disabled – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
More information about home adaptations Getting home adaptations | Disability charity Scope UK
Rights to accessible and adaptable housing in England Your rights to accessible and adaptable housing in England (equalityhumanrights.com)
Rights to accessible and adaptable housing in Scotland Your rights to accessible and adaptable housing in Scotland: A guide for disabled people and the organisations that support them (equalityhumanrights.com)
Rights to accessible and adaptable housing in Wales Your rights to accessible and adaptable housing in Wales (equalityhumanrights.com)
Accessible housing Northern Ireland Accessible housing | Housing Advice NI

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