How to choose a riser recliner chair

A riser chair helps most when standing up from an ordinary chair has become a struggle: pushing hard on the arms, rocking several times to get going, or needing someone to pull them up. It also helps when sitting down is the risky part, because a person with weak legs can drop heavily into a low seat.

There is a reason to pause before buying one, though. An NHS occupational therapy leaflet on choosing a chair points out that getting up and down from a chair is good daily exercise that helps keep the legs strong. It recommends leg-strengthening exercises first and suggests a riser recliner for people with severe mobility problems. If your parent can still stand from a firm chair of the right height, a higher, well-fitted chair and some exercise may serve them better than a powered lift that does the work for them. Physio at home covers the exercises, and the wider guide to mobility and falls care sets out how a fall risk is assessed and reduced.

Before you shop, think about whether your parent can work a handset with several buttons, and whether there is a socket near where the chair will stand, so no cable trails across the floor. If they sit in the chair for most of the day, they are at risk of pressure sores, which a tilt function or a pressure-relieving cushion can help with but not remove.

1. 1

   Ask the council for a needs assessment

   Free, whatever their savings

   Ring adult social care at your parent's council, or apply online through GOV.UK, and say they are struggling to get up from a chair. Their GP can also refer them.
2. 2

   An occupational therapist visits

   At home

   They watch your parent sit, stand and move around, and look at the furniture they already use. They may suggest exercises, a different chair height, raisers under an existing chair, or a riser recliner.
3. 3

   Ask what the council can supply

   It varies by area

   Councils should provide aids and minor adaptations costing under £1,000 free to people assessed as needing them. Some lend specialist seating, including riser recliners, for people assessed as needing it. Others do not provide seating and will point you to retailers.
4. 4

   Buy with the measurements in hand

   If you buy privately

   If the council does not supply a chair, ask the therapist to write down the seat height, depth and width your parent needs and which features matter. That gives you something firm to compare against a salesperson's advice.

Wigan Council's answer to a 2026 freedom of information request is one example of how this works: its equipment service supplies specialist seating after a seating assessment, for people with poor sitting balance or a risk of falling from their chair, and signposts others to retailers. Other councils work differently, so ask. The NHS page on home adaptations explains the free assessment and the £1,000 rule, and the right equipment to aid the elderly covers the smaller items an assessment can suggest. Free equipment for older people goes through what else can be had on loan or at no cost.

The same council assessment is also how help with care itself begins. In England, if your parent has less than £23,250 in savings, the council may contribute to care at home, and local authority funding explains how that works. Attendance Allowance is not means-tested, and if your parent is over State Pension age and needs help with personal care because of an illness or disability, it can go towards a chair or towards visits.

Seat height matters most. If the seat is too high, your parent's feet will not rest flat and there is pressure on the back of the thighs; too low, and their legs ache and getting up takes more effort, which is the very thing the chair is meant to fix. A seat that is too deep leaves them perched forward with nothing behind their back, and they will slide down into it over the afternoon.

Measure on a firm, upright chair rather than a sagging sofa, and do it with the footwear they wear indoors. If your parent cannot sit upright for long enough to be measured, or leans to one side, the chair needs to be chosen by an occupational therapist rather than from a tape measure.

Two further numbers are worth noting. One is your parent's weight, because every chair has a maximum user weight. The other is the route into the room: measure the front door, the hallway and any tight corners, because riser chairs are bulky and some are delivered in one piece.

For VAT purposes, someone qualifies if they have a physical or mental impairment with a long-term and substantial effect on everyday activities, or a condition the medical profession treats as a chronic sickness, such as diabetes. Being older does not count on its own. HMRC's VAT Notice 701/7 names riser-recliner chairs, "sometimes also called lift and tilt chairs", as eligible, and excludes recliners without the lift or tilt. GOV.UK sets out who qualifies for VAT relief and lists the items covered by the 5% rate for people over 60. VAT relief on mobility aids explains the declaration and what to do if a seller is unsure.

These are Which?'s figures, not ours. A made-to-measure chair, or one with a larger frame, can cost more. When you compare, check whether a price already has VAT relief taken off, as some sellers show both. Extras such as a pressure-relieving cushion, a battery backup or a wider or taller frame can each add to the total. The Disabled Facilities Grant pays for adaptations to a home rather than furniture, so it is not usually a route to a chair.

The cancellation rules come from the Consumer Contracts Regulations, and GOV.UK summarises what a seller must tell you under door to door sales.

We do not recommend particular makers or sellers. For views on brands, use independent sources rather than a seller's own reviews. Which? tests riser recliners with a panel of testers aged over 65, and its full results are for members. Living Made Easy gives impartial information on daily living equipment, including chairs. The Research Institute for Disabled Consumers publishes consumer research on products for disabled and older people. The British Healthcare Trades Association code of practice sets the standards its member companies sign up to, so it is worth asking any seller whether they are a member.

Second-hand and hired chairsSection titled Second-hand%20and%20hired%20chairs

A second-hand chair can cost far less, but it was sized for someone else, and Which? warns there is no guarantee it will fit. Check it against your measurements and see the lift, the recline and any battery working. Buying from a private seller also means none of the cancellation rights above. If your parent only needs a chair for a few weeks, after a hip operation for example, ask the occupational therapist first and then ask local mobility shops whether they hire chairs out. Hip fracture recovery covers what those first weeks at home involve.

A morning and an evening visit, an hour each, is 14 hours a week: on PrimeCarers that costs around £252 to £350, with our fee included, at £18 to £25 an hour. An agency typically charges £28 to £35 an hour for the same visits. Morning calls, lunch calls and tucking-in calls explains what fits in each visit, and hourly care covers how visits work. If nights are the worry, night care for falls and toilet trips explains sleeping and waking nights.

When you are ready, you can search for carers near you and compare their rates for morning and evening visits. PrimeCarers is an introductory service: you find and choose a self-employed carer and agree the visits with them. Before a carer's profile appears, we check their identity and right to work, confirm they hold an enhanced DBS check (or PVG in Scotland, Access NI in Northern Ireland) issued within the last 2 years, and interview them online. We do not check qualifications, training or references, so ask the carer about their experience of helping someone stand and transfer; references and reviews on a profile are not verified by us. Insurance is a separate matter from these checks: for visits booked through PrimeCarers, cover is arranged while the carer works where they do not have their own, subject to the policy terms.