Any Cumberland resident may ask for initial advice from CHIA. Initial advice is free and can help you to work out what services you need and are eligible for. CHIA have caseworkers to support applicants through the process of adapting their homes.

For households who need professional help in designing and delivering works to their home (disabled adaptations or repairs and improvements), there is a charge for CHIA. If you are eligible for grant funding, this will cover the costs of the CHIA service.

If you are awarded any discretionary funding under this policy, we will require you to use CHIA to make sure your works are delivered appropriately.

If you are only awarded mandatory Disabled Facilities Grants funding, you do not have to use CHIA, but we would recommend using the service to make sure your adaptations are delivered well.

If you organise your own works, the Council will assess your needs; advice you on which works are eligible for funding; determine your DFG applications. If a grant is awarded, we will check builders’ estimates before awarding grant, and check final invoices or receipts, and installers’ certificates, before making any payment to you or to your contractor. We do not pay for works in advance.

CHIA takes a “Housing Solutions” approach to working with people with disabilities, their families and carers. This means that we will explore with you what different ways that may be available to meet your needs, and those of your carers.

We encourage people to think about longer-term solutions as well as things that are needed now, to provide immediate relief.

Longer-term solutions might include one or more of the following:

• moving to a more suitable home, if your current home is hard to adapt, or not suited to the longer-term needs of the individual / household
• options such as moving in with (or buying a home with) other family members
• talking to your landlord about options, if you rent from a housing association
• applying for sheltered housing or extra care housing
• for a family with a child or young person with a disability or additional needs, considering what their longer-term needs and options may be

As these longer -term solutions can take some time to put in place, we can support you with some more immediate solutions. This may include help from the handyperson, referral for temporary aids and equipment, temporary installations or adaptations to the home, and referrals to other services for further help.

If you expect to need to move at some point, we can provide support with this process. Mandatory DFG grants can be used to help with the costs of adaptations to the home you move to, as well as the costs of moving. See Appendix 3 for more details.

You can contact us for advice, and to ask for assistance. If you need a professional referral for adaptations, we can arrange for the Occupational Therapy team to visit you.

Referrals can be made by family members, friends or professionals such as health workers or social care staff. If you wish to refer someone, please discuss it with the person you are referring to for assistance first. We can advise you as to what information we require, depending on the service you need.

Cumberland Council believes in the delivery of excellent public services and putting our customers first. If you are not satisfied with services you receive under this policy, please speak to the caseworker first, and allow them the opportunity to try to put things right. Complaints may be about any aspect of our service, including decisions on funding.

If you wish to complain, you can do so by completing the on-line complaints form, or emailing: complaints@cumberland.gov.uk or by telephone to 01228 479770

Complaints will not normally be accepted about matters that happened more than 12 months earlier. In exceptional circumstances and where adequate reasons are given, a complaint can be considered outside of this timescale, please discuss this with the complaints team.  

The DFG is a mandatory grant to help with the cost of essential adaptations to give a disabled occupant better freedom of movement into and around their home and to access essential facilities within it. Mandatory means that the Council is required to fund this, for eligible applicants. In assessing applications, the Council has regard to the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 and any other relevant legislation.

For minor works, Cumberland Council has a fast-track grant of up to £7,500 (see Discretionary Disabled Facilities Grant)

Mandatory DFG grants can also be used to help with the costs of moving for tenants and homeowners, as well as with adaptations to the home you move to (see Cumberland's housing solution approach to home adaptation and repair).

For more advice on using a DFG to help you move to a more suitable home, contact us: a caseworker can support you, and we can help you to assess the suitability of a home.

Eligibility

Applicants can be owner-occupiers, or tenants of private landlords or registered social landlords (Housing Associations).

Applicants must certify that they intend to live in the property, foreseeably, for the next 5 years. For rented properties, the landlord must consent to the works taking place and certify that the applicant will foreseeably remain in their tenancy for the next 5 years.

The grant is means-tested for adults, using a “Test of Resources”. Applicants in receipt of certain “passporting benefits” will be automatically eligible for the maximum grant (see Appendix 4 for list of qualifying benefits). Some people will not be eligible for the grant due to their level of income and savings.

There is no means-testing for applications for children and young people under the age of 19.

Funding cannot be provided retrospectively for work already carried out to the home.

Mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant

The maximum mandatory grant is £30,000. Most adaptations cost less than this.

If you need works that will cost over £30,000, or more than the amount of mandatory grant that you are eligible for, we will provide advice on your options. This can include advice on other places to seek help from, such as charities, and may also include the option for home owners to defer payment by placing a legal land charge on the property being adapted (see Discretionary Top-Ups – Deferred Payment Loans for Home Owners)

Means Testing / Test of Resources

The grant is means-tested for adults (aged 19 and over) using a “Test of Resources”. This takes into account the income and savings of the disabled person (and their partner). The first £6,000 of any savings are ignored, and applicants in receipt of certain benefits will be automatically eligible for the full amount of grant awarded.

There is no means test for a DFG where the application is for a child/ young person under the age of 19, for whom child benefit is payable. If you are the parent or guardian of a disabled child, your income and savings are not considered for a mandatory DFG (up to £30,000).

If works are needed that will cost more than the mandatory grant awarded to the applicant, we will provide advice and assistance in considering options, including other sources of help, and an option for home owners to defer payment (see Discretionary DFG).

Works covered by a Mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant

A wide range of works can be considered, as recommended by an Occupational Therapist. DFG can be used to pay for works which improve:

• access into the home (e.g. ramps, steps, door controls) and access to the main rooms of your home (e.g. wider doorways, or a stairlift to your bathroom)
• access to suitable washing and cooking facilities (e.g. a shower)
• making the home safe for the applicant and the household. This can include works related to behaviours that challenge
• providing or improving heating (and insulation)
• adapting controls to power, light, heating, so the applicant can use them

DFG can also be used to help a person move to a home that is already adapted for their needs, or more suitable for them than their current home (see Appendix 3).

Adaptations for children will be designed to take into account the needs of a growing child, as far as that is possible, to minimise the need for further applications and disruptions to your household.

The works must be recommended as necessary and appropriate to address the applicant’s disability by an Occupational Therapist or other appropriate professional. An OT may also provide equipment to help you manage in your home or help you to access specialist advice or support to reduce the need for adaptations.

Work must be both reasonable and practicable to achieve, having regard to the age and condition of the property. Sometimes, a property will be very difficult or impossible to adapt for the needs of the applicant. DFG can also be used to support moving home and for adaptations to a new home. This applies to both homeowners and tenants (see Appendix 3).

Organisation of DFG works

A caseworker will be assigned to liaise with the applicant and their family; to carry out the test of resources (means test); and to provide advice.

We will arrange for necessary assessments to be carried out. This will depend on the works needed: some adaptations are relatively simple to install and do not require planning or building control permissions, whilst others are complex and will take more time to approve.

We will work with the applicant to produce a design scheme, and when that is approved, we will support the appointment of a contractor, and we will oversee the works to make sure they are completed properly and meet your needs.

Works can include the provision of specialist equipment such as stairlifts and ramps. We recycle equipment where possible, so equipment provided may be re-commissioned before it is delivered to your home.

Applicants who choose not to use Cumberland Home Improvement Agency

Applicants who are awarded a mandatory grant only (no discretionary funding) may choose not to use the Home Improvement Agency Service. If you organise your own works, the Council will:

• assess the disabled person’s needs and establish that works are eligible for funding
• require at least two competitive quotes for the work (and will pay grant for the lower amount)
• check builders’ estimates; carry out a final inspection to ensure that the works have been properly completed; and check all final receipts and installers certificates etc before making a payment to you or to your contractor. We will not pay for any works in advance

Where works are to be carried out by a member of the applicant’s family or household, the Council will only pay for the cost of materials.

The council will not approve an application if the relevant works have been started before the application is approved.

Land Charges for DFG: Applying to owner-occupiers only

Disabled Facilities Grants are provided to support people for the long-term: if you intend to move, we can support you with a grant to adapt your new home. You may have to repay part of the grant, if the home is sold within ten years of the adaptation being completed. This also applies if the legal title to the property is transferred without a sale, e.g. through a transfer of ownership such as assignment or inheritance.

To ensure the Council can reclaim such grants, we will register a Land Charge against properties where a Mandatory DFG of £5,000 or more has been approved. The amount of the land charge is the amount of grant over £5,000, up to a maximum of £10,000 (for a mandatory DFG of £15,000 or more). If the property is sold, inherited or otherwise transferred within ten years of completion of works, the land charge must be repaid to the Council.

The Council may choose to reduce or waive the repayment, if the property is sold to enable the person for whom adaptations were completed to move to a more suitable home, or if reclaiming the debt would cause exceptional hardship.

Land charges are not registered on rented properties.

Subject to available funding, and at the Council’s discretion, the Council will support eligible applicants and their families to access discretionary funding, when this is needed to enable them to carry out adaptations.

Caseworkers will provide advice on sources of funding.

Fast-track Discretionary Disabled Facilities Grants under £7,500

The Council supports applicants who need simple adaptations to have these carried out as quickly as possible, without the need for a full mandatory DFG application.

Requests for stairlifts, showers and other simple adaptations costing £7,500 or under can be approved without carrying out a Test of Resources (means test). Applicants do not have to provide evidence of income and savings.

Applicants are only eligible for £7,500 in any five-year period. So, if an applicant has had a grant for £5,000 and requests a further adaptation within five years, they will only be eligible for £2,500 under this condition. Where an Occupational Therapy Assessment recommends works above the threshold, we will support you to apply for a mandatory DFG so that all necessary works can be completed.

Applicants may apply for a Statutory DFG of up to £30,000 at any time but will have to complete the full means-test.

Facilitating Care Grants

The mandatory DFG is legally directed solely at meeting the needs of the disabled person and does not include works for carers.

We recognise that the needs of carers are very important. We will consider family carers and paid carers as part of our assessment of your needs.

In many cases, adaptations to meet the needs of the disabled person will also support the role of carers. However, if there are additional works required to facilitate care, then a Discretionary Facilitating Care Grant can be awarded alongside a mandatory DFG. The sum of the mandatory and discretionary parts will not normally exceed £30,000.

A referral from an Occupational Therapist will be required to explain why the most reasonable and practical solution identified via a DFG would be unsuitable for the disabled occupants’ carers, and what alternative solution is proposed.

Some examples of adaptations to support carers include:

• allowing for sleeping accommodation for a carer (that otherwise may have been removed via a DFG)
• allowing for specialist shower screens identified by a carer

Discretionary Top-Ups – Deferred Payment Loans for Home Owners

Cumberland Council offers deferred payment loans to applicants who are owner-occupiers, who qualify for a Mandatory DFG but need additional funding. This may be because they have been assessed as needing to pay part of the cost of an adaptation, or because their adaptation is costing more than the maximum amount (£30,000). This applies to adaptations for adults and children.

Top-Ups are offered as deferred payment loans. This means that:

• a charge is registered against the property that has been adapted for the amount above the mandatory limit
• you make no repayments until the property is sold, or otherwise transferred (e.g. inherited), at which point the amount is repaid in full
• no interest is charged

If you own your own home but do not have enough equity to accept deferred payment loans (e.g. because you have a very large mortgage), see Discretionary Top-Up – Exceptional Circumstances Grant Funding.

Discretionary Top-Up – Exceptional Circumstances Grant Funding

Where applicants are not eligible for grant funding for the full cost of the works required, the Home Improvement Agency will provide advice and support to consider alternatives including:

• considering moving to a property that meets your needs or is easier to adapt
• reviewing the design of the works
• applying for charitable funds

We will prioritise applicants where:

• the applicant is at significant risk until the adaptation is delivered
• failure to deliver the adaptations means a higher level of care is needed, which the Council would have to pay for
• a child or young person may have to be placed into residential care if an adaptation cannot be provided

For Homeowners

The Council has the discretion to award additional top-up grant funding, in exceptional circumstances, to people who have qualified for a mandatory DFG, and where deferred payment option is not enough to cover the shortfall (usually because there is insufficient equity in the house for a legal land charge to be secured against it).

For Housing Association tenants

Cumberland Council works with Housing Associations to support residents. We will ask your landlord to consider options including them paying a share of funding or helping you to move to a more suitable home. We may award some discretionary grant funding if no other options are reasonably possible.

All Exceptional Circumstances funding is at the discretion of the relevant Assistant Director, who will consider the relevant circumstances, and the Council’s ability to provide further funding.

Maintenance of items funded under a DFG

Where the Council provides funding for items that need servicing (such as stairlifts and wash-dry toilets), we will include the purchase of an extended warranty and servicing agreement in the grant award, if it is possible to do so. Typically, the extended warranty and servicing agreement will be for 5 years.

When an extended warranty expires, the homeowner is responsible for servicing and repair.

For tenants of Housing Associations, it is the landlords’ responsibility to ensure lifts are safe, and to provide servicing, regardless of the age of the lift.

Removing adaptations funded under a DFG

Removal of adaptations will normally be the responsibility of the owner of the property. We may agree to remove items which can be reconditioned and reused such as ramps and stairlifts.

The person who needs the adaptations must certify that they intend to live in the property for the next five years.

For tenants, your landlord must consent to the works being carried out and confirm that you are expected to remain in your tenancy for the next five years.

Other proofs required to Apply for a Mandatory DFG:

i) Completed Application Form.

ii) Proof of ownership of the property (e.g. land title), or of right to reside (e.g. tenancy).

iii) Recommendation from an appropriate professional that the works are necessary and appropriate for you needs – this is usually from one of the Council’s Occupational Therapists (OTs), but may be from a private OT, an Occupation Therapy Assistant (OTA) or a Rehabilitation Officer.

iv) Quotations – one quotation if works are estimated at under £10,000, two quotations where works are above £10,00. These must be from two different contractors/ suppliers, detailing all work.

v) Details of any other fees, such as for architects.

vi) Completed Test of Resources Form (means test) with required supporting information e.g. proof of benefits or savings.

If you are using Cumberland Home Improvement Agency, we will support you in completing the necessary paperwork.

The eligible works are laid out in the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 and include:

• improving access to the home and to principal rooms within the home
• making the dwelling safe for use by the disabled person
• providing washing, toilet and cooking facilities where necessary
• improving or providing heating
• adapting controls to power, light and heating to make them easier to use

The works must be considered necessary and appropriate to address the applicant’s disability and be both reasonable and practicable to achieve, having regard to the age and condition of the property.

For households who need to move to a more suitable home, reasonable expenses can be paid, including:

• costs of moving: home removals and utilities connections
• floor and window coverings for the new home
• other fees associated with moving home, including estate agents’ fees
• adaptations to the new home

A moving home grant can be made as a mandatory DFG. Tenants are eligible as well as homeowners, although for tenants of a Registered Social Landlord (Housing Association), the landlord should be asked to help find a suitable alternative property and to assist with costs.

Means-tested welfare benefits that can be used to demonstrate eligibility for means-tested assistance under this policy include:

• Universal Credit (UC)
• Income Support (IS)
• Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Child Tax Credit (CTC)
• Working Tax Credit (WTC)
• Pension Credit

Other means-tested benefits may also demonstrate eligibility: please contact the Cumberland Home Improvement Agency for the most up to date information.

This list is current as of November 2024.

Deferred Payment Loans will be offered to provide additional funding for Disabled Facilities, or for essential Home Repairs and Improvements under this policy.

Applicants must be an owner-occupier of the dwelling to which the application applies.

No interest will be charged (this is yet to be decided pending further legal and finance consideration around costs to Council).

The deferred payment amount will be registered as a Land Charge with the Land Registry. This charge will be subsidiary to any charge placed for a mortgage.

Applicants must allow the Council to take whatever steps it considers appropriate to verify the application.

The council will not approve an application if the relevant works have been started before the application is approved.

The payment is repayable on sale or transfer of ownership of the property, or if the property is left vacant for six months or more. The Council may, at its discretion waive, reduce or defer its demand for repayment if:

• the applicant has died and the property has transferred to their partner, who continues to live there
• the applicant has moved to a residential or nursing care home, and funds are required to pay for care
• other exceptional circumstances apply

Decisions to defer or waive repayment are taken by the Assistant Director. Any appeals will be considered by the relevant council Director.