Homecoming
Returning Home
The chances are that if you are returning home you will need to make physical adaptations; this may involve structural changes to the property where you live. This will include access to and from the property, adaptations to the bathroom to enable you to use the bathroom facilities without causing yourself an injury. Your Occupational Therapist will make recommends on what adaptations are required.
There are a number of ways that you can fund these changes.
1) Social services departments provide funding for certain works but these tend to be for minor adaptations and equipment rather than structural works.
They may make minor adaptations for you such as providing you with fixed rails, a bath board and other non-fixed items. However these items tend to be supplied on a loan basis and the council may ask you for a deposit for these items and will request for them to be returned when no longer needed. They may also recommend minor adaptations such as stair rails or outside hand rails. If they feel that major adaptations are needed such as a lift or a ramp for a wheelchair then they will discuss funding options with you.
The initial contact should be too made through your local council office Following an assessment or a member of the Independent Living Services Team or an Occupational Therapist the council will decide what help you need.
2) Local authorities are required by law to give Disabled Facilities Grants to eligible applicants to make houses suitable for disabled people.
You can apply for a Disabled Facilities Grant to pay for the work, but bear in mind that Local Authorities can be slow and decisions on this can take up to six months and then payment may be delayed. Disabled Facilities Grants have a limit of £25,000.
This grant is means tested which can affect your eligibility and you may be expected to pay some of the costs, depending on your financial circumstances.
Most councils operate an agreed policy when deciding which works social services department should be responsible for. Sometimes the social services departments may assess a need for a grant but the housing department decides that it is unable or unwilling to make a grant. This may be because the works fall within the discretionary rather than the mandatory scheme.
It is worth remembering that the social services department has a responsibility, under section 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 to arrange for the provision of adaptations someone is assessed as needing. Under this Act a council has a duty to provide services to disabled people including:
- the provision of practical assistance within the home
- the provision of disability aids and equipment
- assistance with adaptations to the home
The social services department should therefore examine alternative options with the applicant or disabled person. A possible option may be financial assistance from the authority in the form of a grant or loan. Social services departments may be able to help with the cost of work not covered by the DFG. The amount of help varies between local authorities. They may be able to provide top up funding if someone is not able to meet his or her assessed contribution. They may also be able to provide top-up for works which cost over the £25,000 limit (£30,000 in Wales ) on DFGs.
Local social services departments and housing authorities will assess what improvements and adaptations you may need in order to live more independently in your own home.
Discretionary grants
Even if the required adaptations do not fall within the mandatory grant criteria, they may be eligible for a discretionary grant. Such works can include providing or adapting an existing room to enable someone to work from home. There is no obligation to award such grants and a department may have a general policy of not awarding them.
The government website states that “If you or someone living in your property is disabled you may qualify for a disabled facilities grant towards the cost of providing adaptations and facilities to enable the disabled person to continue to live there. Such grants are given by local councils under Part I of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996”.
3) Home repair assistance
Home repair assistance is a discretionary grant to help meet the cost of smaller scale repairs, improvements and adaptations. Local authorities each have their own priorities for home repair assistance and an application form and details of these should be available from the housing department. There is no restriction on the type of repair, improvement or adaptation that can be undertaken and assistance can be by way of a cash grant, materials or combination of both. You can get assistance up to a maximum of £5,000 over a three-year period.
4) Warm Front Grant
Warm Front is a government funded initiative and is managed by EAGA plc and helps towards improvements in insulation, room heating and water heating.The grants are particularly aimed at owner-occupiers and people who rent their homes from private tenants. Grants for council tenants and housing association tenants are subject to funding – check with advisers. This grant scheme is for England only. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own grant schemes. Warm Front grants are available up to the value of £3500 or £6000 if oil central heating is involved. Warm Front will fund insulation and heating improvements.
5) Home Improvement Agencies
The local authority giving a grant may commission the work and supervise it, perhaps together with a housing association. However there are a number of home improvement agencies throughout England and Wales that can give advice, help decide what work needs to be done (in consultation with the local authority), organise work, sort out finances, find a surveyor, architect or builder and monitor progress. There may be a fee but this can sometimes be waived. Some agencies only work with older people. The agencies are co-coordinated by Care and Repair, the national body for home improvement agencies.
6) Other relevant assistance
The Regulatory Reform (Housing Assistance) (England and Wales ) This order 2002 gives councils greater powers to provide discretionary assistance. This may take the form of low cost loans and equity release as well as grants to private homeowners and others to help them to renovate, repair or adapt their home. Councils may give discretionary assistance in addition to mandatory disabled facilities grants. Any assistance given must be in accordance with the council’s published policy. For further information, contact the Environmental Health of the Housing Department of your local council.
Please click on the link to find more information from the Government Website
