Liverpool City Council - FAQ

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 Adapting homes FAQ

What adaptations can be provided?

After you contact us, the Supported Services Community Occupational Therapist will visit your home.   They will see if you need any adaptations that may need a mandatory disabled facilities grant.  

Mandatory disabled facilities grant is given for one or more of the following:

  • to allow access by the disabled occupant to and from his or her home;
  • to provide adaptations to make a property safe for the disabled person and carers;
  • to allow access to a main family room;
  • to allow access to a room which can be used as a bedroom by the disabled person;
  • to allow access to a toilet, bath or shower, and hand basin which can be used by the disabled person;
  • to allow access to food preparation and cooking;
  • to improve the heating system in the home in order to meet the medical needs of the disabled person;
  • to allow access to lighting, power and heating controls;
  • to allow the disabled person access and movement around his or her home, so they can care for their family.             

The community occupational therapist (COT) can recommend any number of different adaptations.   Examples of these can include:

  • stair lifts;
  • through ceiling lifts;
  • step lifts;
  • hoisting equipment;
  • special toilets;
  • bathroom;
  • widening doors;
  • providing ramps;
  • repositioning light, power and heating switches;
  • upgrading heating systems;
  • levelling floors for wheelchair access.            
            

The COT will tell you the adaptations, if any, which most suit your disability needs. Only these will be considered for funding with the help of a mandatory disabled facilities grant.



Who can apply for mandatory disabled facilities grant?

The person applying for the grant must be either:

  • the owner of the property;
  • in the process of buying the property; or
  • the tenant of the property.            
            

The grant applicant will not always be the disabled person.   For example, a parent can apply for one of these grants for a disabled child.

If there are two or more disabled people living in your home; you may find that certain adaptations are recommended for each disabled person.   All these can be included in one application. 



Is there a waiting list? And if there is what if my need is more urgent than someone else?

If the Community Occupational Therapist (COT) who visits your home says that your adaptations can be done using a mandatory disabled facilities grant, your referral will join a queue managed by Agency Services.   We add you to the waiting list according to the date of the visit by the COT.   

Although the City Council is making progress in reducing waiting lists for mandatory disabled facilities grants, there could be a delay of years after the assessment before we consider your referral for grant.

We operate a priority award system to deal with the critical needs of some disabled occupants. Agency Services and Supported Living staff meet regularly to consider referrals for priority processing using the following criteria:-

  • if there is a significant deterioration in the medical condition of the disabled person or it is expected that a significant deterioration will happen in the short term;
  • if the adaptation is essential to prevent the disabled person having to go into residential care;
  • the carer is no longer able to look after the disabled person, with particular attention to be given where young carers are involved;
  • the physical condition of the property or the social circumstances of the applicant need to be given priority;
  • how long the applicant has been on the waiting list since the occupational therapist's assessment.           


If you believe your referral for mandatory disabled facilities grant should receive priority processing on one or more of the criteria detailed above, please contact us by ringing 0151 233 2317.



How much money can I get?

The most we will pay for a mandatory disabled facilities grant is £25,000 (including VAT and fees).   If the cost of adaptations to your home is more than this limit, we will ask you to pay the extra amount. 

However, the amount you can actually apply for depends on your circumstances.  All mandatory disabled facilities grants include an assessment of either the applicant's or disabled person's income.   This assessment is called a 'Test of Financial Resources'.  

We will normally ask the disabled person, not the person applying for the grant, to fill in the 'Test of Financial Resource' form.   If the disabled person is a child, we will ask the person applying for the grant to fill in this form.   We will use this form to work out how much, if any, the person applying for the grant will be asked to pay towards the mandatory disabled facilities grant.



Do you have any more information about how I can make an application?

The following pdf documents give further information about making applications for grants in this section.  You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them, which you can download from our help page.  The page also has tools to help those reading a pdf document with a screen reader.