Disabled facilities grant

A disabled facilities grant is available for a range of works needed to help a disabled person to live more independently in their own home.

We offer the grant for the following type of works

The grant is subject to the advice of the Surrey County Council Occupational Therapists and technical advice from our Home Improvement Agency.

We also offer small works grants and loans.

Making it easier for a disabled person to access:

• their home or the building in which the flat or maisonette is situated
• the room used and/or usable as a main family room
• the room used and/or usable for sleeping
• a room in which there is a lavatory, a bath or shower (or both) and a wash hand basin
• a facility for the preparation and cooking of food

Provision of a bedroom or bathroom

Please note: providing a room suitable for sleeping or making it easier to use the lavatory, bath, shower or wash hand basin will only be considered when we are satisfied that the adaptation of an existing room, or access to that room is not suitable in that particular case.

• Should provision of an accessible bedroom be required, and the disabled person would normally share a bedroom with someone else, that grant will enable a room big enough to maintain normal sleeping arrangements of the household.
• Some living rooms may be large enough to create a room, which could be used as a bedroom instead of extending the property
• Consideration will always be given to the use of stair lifts or through floor lifts to obtain suitable access internally as an initial option

Making a home or building safe for the disabled occupant or other people living with them

Adaptations that may be considered are:

• providing lighting where safety is an issue or the disabled occupant is poorly sighted and needs the lighting to live independently
• to minimise danger where the disabled person has behavioural problems which cause them to act occasionally or regularly in a boisterous or violent manner damaging the house, themselves or other people
• an enhanced alarm system for people with hearing difficulties to provide improved safety for the disabled occupant in connection with the use of cooking facilities or means of escape in the event of a fire
• toughened or shatterproof glass, installing guards to fires or radiators, reinforcement of floors, walls or ceilings or the provision of cladding to prevent self injury

Making it easier for the disabled person to prepare and cook food

This covers a wide range of works to enable the disabled person to cater for themselves or their family independently. It includes specially modified or designed units, gas, electricity and plumbing installations and the rearrangements or enlargement of a kitchen, for example, to manoeuvre a wheelchair.

In the case where a disabled person does not prepare or cook food it would not be appropriate to adapt the kitchen, but some adaptations may be permitted to enable the disabled person to make drinks or light meals.

Improving the heating system

People with limited mobility that remain in one room for long periods of time usually need greater warmth than mobile able-bodied people. Therefore assistance will be available for those parts of the accommodation used by the disabled person to provide suitable background temperatures.

Adaptations that may be considered are:

• improving the heating system in the home to meet the needs of the disabled occupant
• if there is no existing heating system in the home, or the system is unsuitable for use by the disabled occupant, to provide a heating system suitable for their needs
• if unsuitable heating is installed e.g. solid fuel heaters where fuel has to be carried in from outside.

Grant will not be available to heat rooms not normally used by the disabled person, so it is unlikely that full central heating systems will be grant aided. Likewise it is unlikely that one form of central heating when replaced with another form of central heating will be grant aided except in exceptional circumstances

Making it easier to get into/out of/around the home to care for another

This is to allow a disabled person to care for someone who normally lives with them whether they are related to the disabled person or not. This may include spouse, partner or family member, another disabled person or a child.

Works could include:

• access to an upper floor for care of the dependant when the disabled person would not normally have to have access to the upper floor
• ramps to provide access to the dwelling (access to all other areas of the dwelling would not normally be considered for grant aid)
• works to the common parts of the building containing flats, where the disabled person is the occupant of one of the flats (normally the works are limited to facilitate access to the dwelling through the common parts or facilitating the use of a source of power, lighting or heating in the common parts)