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.