Disabled Facilities Grants
A Disabled Facilities Grant is a local council grant to help towards the cost of adapting your home to enable you to continue to live there. A grant is paid where the council considers the changes necessary to meet your needs - and is happy that the work is reasonable and practical.
Who is eligible for a Disabled Facilities Grant?
You can claim if you, or someone living in your property, is disabled and:- you, or the person on whose behalf you are applying, are either the owner or tenant (including licensees) of the property
- you can certify that you, or the person on whose behalf you are applying, intend to occupy the property as your/their only or main residence throughout the grant period - currently five years
What you can use it for
A grant can be used for essential adaptations to give you better freedom of movement into and around your home and/or to provide essential facilities within it.If you are disabled, acceptable types of work 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
- 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 housing or environmental health department of your local council will be able to give you detailed information when you apply for a Disabled Facilities Grant.
How much do you get?
The amount paid is usually based on a financial assessment (a 'means test') of your average weekly income in relation to your outgoings - or 'assessed needs'. However, there is no means testing for families of disabled children under 19.Means testing will take into account savings above a certain limit, but certain benefits - including Disability Living Allowance and/or Income Support - are generally ignored.
If you have a partner, your combined income will be assessed jointly. Capital is included in the means test. The first £6,000 of savings is disregarded.
A range of premiums and allowances is used for all essential outgoings, for example, rent/mortgage and personal expenditure. Actual outgoings are not taken into consideration.
Depending on the outcome of this assessment the amount of financial assistance offered can vary from 0 to 100 per cent of the cost.
How the award is worked out
The award works as follows:- 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 what size loan you could contribute towards the cost of the works
- if this assessed loan amount is less than the cost of the works, the difference between the two is paid as a Disabled Facilities Grant
Maximum grant amount
£25,000 per application is the maximum Disabled Facilities Grant that a council is required to pay in England - less any assessed contribution from you.If the cost of the eligible works is more, the council can use discretionary powers to increase the grant.
source:www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Disabledpeople/DG_10018715
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