The Disabled Facilities Grant

The grant is for building work and fitted equipment. Smaller things come by a quicker route. In England, the council must provide a minor adaptation that costs £1,000 or less free of charge when your parent has been assessed as needing it, so grab rails, a second banister, a half step or a key safe usually come from adult social care without any grant application or means test. Loose equipment such as a shower chair, a raised toilet seat or a perching stool is usually lent through the council's community equipment service. The right equipment to aid the elderly describes what is available, and home adaptations that reduce the need for care sets out which changes make the most difference.

What the grant will not usually pay for is work that is not about the disability: a new kitchen because the old one is tired, a second bathroom for visitors, or a bath and a shower when only one is needed for medical reasons. Where the council is choosing between two ways of meeting a need, it can fund the one that meets it at reasonable cost, for example a stairlift rather than an extension. If the family would like a bigger scheme, the council can still support the application, and the grant goes towards the part it would have paid for anyway. For the stairs in particular, stairs, stairlifts and moving downstairs weighs up the choices before anything is ordered, and for the bathroom, how a walk-in bath works explains one option families ask about; the occupational therapist will say which kind of bathing adaptation meets your parent's needs.

This page is the full guide. Council tax, VAT relief, Pension Credit and grants puts the grant alongside the other reliefs a family can claim, and is a good place to check you have not missed anything else.

Your parent does not have to be registered disabled, and they do not need a diagnosis with a particular name. What decides it is whether the occupational therapist, and the council's housing team after them, agree that the work is necessary and appropriate for their needs, and reasonable and practicable given the age and condition of the house. A house in very poor repair can be a reason to refuse, and in that case the council should talk to you about other housing options. If a move is being considered instead, housing options for an older parent sets out the choices.

If your parent cannot make decisions about the application themselves, the council should follow the Mental Capacity Act. In practice somebody with a lasting power of attorney for property and financial affairs can deal with it for them, and the council will tell you what it needs to see.

The calculation sets an allowance for the household's needs, compares it with their actual weekly income, and turns any income above it into a sum the household is assumed to be able to borrow. That sum is the contribution, and it is lower for tenants than for owners. It can come out at nothing, at a few hundred pounds, or at more than the work costs. Councils are encouraged to give an early estimate before the application goes in, so ask for one at the assessment.

A grant that comes out at nothing can still be worth applying for. The council still checks the work is done properly, and if your parent needs another adaptation later, what they paid this time is taken off any future contribution, for 10 years for an owner and 5 for a tenant. Some councils also waive the means test for certain work, such as a stairlift to prevent falls, under their own local policy, which is covered further down.

The urgent targets apply when your parent is coming out of hospital and at risk, lives alone and is at risk, has severe confusion and is at risk, lives with a carer who is elderly or disabled, is without heating or hot water, or has a limited life expectancy. Say clearly which of these applies when you first ring, and again in writing. Under the guidance, a case is complex when the work is structural, such as an extension, and the person's situation is also complicated. Work that needs no structural change, such as a stairlift, does not count as complex.

The council can attach some conditions to the grant. If your parent owns the home and the grant is more than £5,000, it can register a charge on the property, and if the house is sold within 10 years it can ask for up to £10,000 back. The council must think about whether that is reasonable, for example if the sale is because of your parent's health or so they can move to be cared for by family. It can also ask for a stairlift or similar equipment back when it is no longer needed, so it can be reused.

If your parent's health or circumstances change after the grant is approved but before the work is finished, for example a long stay in hospital or a move, the council looks at what to do and can still pay for some or all of the work. A grant made in good faith for somebody whose health then changes does not have to be paid back.

VAT relief sits alongside the grant rather than instead of it. If your parent has a long-term illness or a disability that affects everyday life, building work to adapt their home, and equipment designed for disabled people such as a stairlift, can be supplied without VAT. They, or you for them, sign a short declaration that the supplier provides, and the supplier keeps it. Being older is not enough on its own, but somebody aged 60 or over can get some mobility aids, such as grab rails, a stairlift or a walk-in bath, supplied and installed at a reduced rate of 5%. The details are in HMRC's notice on VAT reliefs for disabled and older people, and our guide to council tax, VAT relief and grants explains how to ask for it.

Foundations is the national body for home improvement agencies and the Disabled Facilities Grant in England, funded by the government. Its Find My HIA service lists local home improvement agencies, and its website has more on how the grant works. Citizens Advice and Age UK can also help, and Age UK's factsheet on disability equipment and home adaptations covers the whole subject in more detail.

In Wales, the grant works much as it does in England and starts with the council and an occupational therapist; Citizens Advice Wales explains the help available, and care funding in Wales covers the wider picture. In Scotland there is no Disabled Facilities Grant. Each council runs a scheme of assistance, and adaptations to reach a toilet, bath, shower or sink are paid at least partly by grant; Citizens Advice Scotland sets out who qualifies, and care funding in Scotland explains how social care is paid for there. In Northern Ireland the grant comes from the Housing Executive after the health and social care trust's occupational therapist recommends the work; nidirect has the details, and care funding in Northern Ireland covers the rest.

1. 1

   Cover the two riskiest times of day

   While you wait

   Most help with stairs and washing is needed in the morning and at bedtime. A carer there to help your parent up, washed and dressed, and back to bed at night, takes the riskiest moments off their own hands.
2. 2

   Live downstairs for a while, if that is safer

   While you wait

   A bed in the front room and a commode can be safer than the stairs. A carer can help set the room up, and visits can follow the new routine.
3. 3

   Plan around the builders

   During the work

   A bathroom out of action for a week or two means washing has to happen somewhere else. Ask the occupational therapist what to do, and book extra help for those days, or a short stay with family.
4. 4

   Ask whether the care can change afterwards

   After the work

   A level-access shower or a stairlift can mean your parent manages parts of the day alone again. The council should have looked at how the work changes the care they need, so ask for the care plan to be reviewed.

The occupational therapist's visit is a good time to ask the council for a care needs assessment too, if your parent has not had one. The same team often does both, and the assessment decides whether the council will help pay for care at home while the adaptations are waited for. If the council does agree to fund care, direct payments let your parent spend that money on a carer they choose, and local authority funding explains the means test for care, which is separate from the one for the grant.

If you are paying privately, hourly care lets you book help for the parts of the day that matter, starting with an hour or two. Carers on PrimeCarers charge £18 to £25 an hour with our fee included, compared with £28 to £35 an hour at an agency. You can search for carers near your parent and compare their rates, read their profiles and message them before deciding. Before a carer appears in a search we check their identity and right to work, confirm an enhanced DBS check (or PVG in Scotland, Access NI in Northern Ireland) issued within the last 2 years, and interview them online; ask each carer about their experience with mobility and bathing, since we do not check training or references. If falls are the main worry, mobility and falls care explains what help looks like, and night care for falls and toilet trips covers the nights.