Disabled Facilities Grant

A disabled facilities grant is aimed at making the home of a person with a disability more suitable. The work should make it easier for a person with a disability to access and move around her/his home.

You can only get a disabled facilities grant if an Occupational therapist recommends it. You can get up to £25,000 for a disabled facilities grant. In some circumstances, this award can be increased by a further £25,000 at the discretion of the Housing Executive and with approval from the Department for Social Development

Under current grants prioritisation scheme, new applications for disabled facilities grants will still be accepted and the scheme will continue to operate normally.

What work is included?
What properties are eligible?
Owner occupiers
Landlords
Tenants
Housing Executive and housing association tenants
Can I get help to process my application?
How much will I get?
How is the grant paid?

What work is included?

A disabled facilities grant will usually only cover work recommended by an Occupational Therapist. You may be able to get other work carried out if the Housing Executive and your health trust agree to it. Contact your local Grants Office for more information.

A disabled facilities grant may be available if you need to:

make access easier to a bathroom, living room or bedroom
provide bathroom facilities
adapt kitchen facilities to make the preparation and cooking of food easier
adapt lighting or heating controls
improve the heating system.

What properties are eligible?

Any property is eligible for a disabled facilities grant if:

the work is necessary to meet the needs of the person with a disability
the work is reasonable given the age and condition of the property
an Occupational Therapist has recommended the work.

You can apply for a disabled facilities grant even if your property is less than ten years old.

Owner occupiers

You can apply for a disabled facilities grant if you own your home. You must be able to prove that you own the property or that you are about to buy the property. You must also be able to prove that:

you have a disability, or
you are applying for a person with a disability, who will be living with you.

Landlords

You can only apply for a disabled facilities grant if you can prove that:

you own the property
you will let the property to the person with a disability for at least five years if possible.

Tenants

Tenants can apply for a disabled facilities grant. You don't have to prove that the repairs are your responsibility, but you must get your landlord's permission before applying for the grant. You must also be able to prove that the person with a disability, is or will be living in the property for at least five years if possible.

Housing Executive and housing association tenants

Housing Executive tenants can't apply for a disabled facilities grant. You may be able to apply for a disabled facilities grant if you are a tenant of an unregistered housing association. Contact your housing association for more information on whether you can apply for a disabled facilities grant.

Can I get help to process my application?

You can get help from your local Housing Executive Grants Office at any stage of your application. If you are an older person or you have special needs you may be able to get help from external agencies like Shelter NI or Fold Housing Association.

How much will I get?

You can get up to £50,000 in certain circumstances, however, you will usually only be able to get £25,000. The amount of money you will get depends on your personal circumstances.

The Housing Executive carries out a 'Test of Resources' to work out how much you should pay towards the improvement work. Even if you get a full grant you may have to pay more money to cover the actual cost of the work.