Adaptations for the disabled

If you - or someone living with you - is disabled, a Disabled Facilities Grant can help make adaptations to your home to help make life a little easier.

The grant is limited to a maximum of £30,000 and is subject to several conditions:

• the person must be registered disabled, or be eligible to be registered as disabled
• the house must be the disabled person’s only or main residence, and the grant must be used to make adaptations to the home that the disabled person lives in
• the disabled person’s income will be assessed to establish what contribution they may have to make towards the cost of the work: applicants claiming certain benefits and parents of a disabled child do not have to pay a contribution 
• adaptation works must not have been carried out before application for the the grant is made

It does not matter whether you own or rent your home, as owner occupiers, tenants or landlords can apply.  Occupants of permanent residential caravans/mobile homes are also eligible to apply for a Disabled Facilities Grant. 

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A Disabled Facilities Grant will not affect any benefits you are currently receiving.

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This grant can be used for essential adaptations to give you a better freedom of movement into and around your home and/or to provide essential facilities within it.  The types of work might include:

• widening doors and installing ramps
• providing or improving access to rooms and facilities - for example by installing a stair lift, or providing a downstairs bathroom or shower room
• improving or providing a heating system which is suitable for your needs
• adapting heating or lighting controls to make them easier to use
• improving access to and movement around the home to enable you to care for another person who lives in the property, such as a child 

The amount of grant will depend on the works needed, but the maximum amount of grant that a Council is required to pay is £30,000 per application (less any contribution required from you, if applicable) for essential adaptations to provide better access into and around the home and for suitable adapted essential facilities within the home.  For non-essential adaptations, the amount of grant is discretionary: the Council may increase the amount of grant, or offer a loan to cover the extra works.

The amount of grant paid is usually based on a financial assessment - a 'means test' - of your average weekly income in relation to necessary living expenses.  If you have a partner, your combined income will be assessed jointly.  Capital - savings or investments - is included in the means test except for the first £6,000 of savings, which is disregarded.  Certain benefits, including Disability Living Allowance and Income Support are also generally ignored, and there is no means testing for families with disabled children under 19.

Your actual outgoings are not taken into consideration: a range of premiums and allowances is used to work out all essential outgoings - for example, rent/mortgage and personal expenditure - to arrive at your 'assessed need'.  The amount of financial assistance offered will vary depending on the difference between your income and your assessed need:

• if your income is less than your assessed needs you will not normally need to contribute to the cost of the works
• if your income is more than your assessed needs, a proportion of your income will be used to calculate how much you could contribute towards the cost of the works
• if this assessed amount is less than the cost of the works, the difference between the two is paid as a Disabled Facilities Grant

The first step in the application process is to contact Norfolk County Council Social Services Access and Referral Team on 0344 800 8014.

An Occupational Therapist (OT) from Adult Social Services will make an assessment and a recommendation to North Norfolk District Council's Private Sector Housing Team about what adaptations are needed.  Information may also be provided by a GP (doctor), consultant or specialist practitioner.   A recommendation may then be made to North Norfolk District Council for a Disabled Facilities Grant.  We will then contact you to continue the application process.

You must apply for a grant before you start any work, as you will not get any grant if you start work before the council approves the application.