Aids and adaptations

Making your home suitable for someone with a disability

What are aids and adaptations?

Aids and adaptations are alterations to your home. They can range from simple things like grab rails to help you get out of the bath, through ramps and level-access showers, to major fittings such as stair lifts.

I think I need my home adapted. What should I do?

If you or someone you live with finds it difficult to get around your home, an occupational therapist should assess the person. They can work out what the person needs. Your council or GP can tell you who to contact, or we can put you in touch with the right team.

Why do I need an occupational therapist? Why can’t you help?

Occupational therapists are specially trained and can assess your needs properly. Our staff are not trained to do this.

What happens when I contact an occupational therapist?

The occupational therapist arranges to visit you. They may not be able to come straight away, so ask how long you can expect to wait for a visit.

What happens when the occupational therapist visits?

The occupational therapist looks around your home and asks you questions to assess what adaptations you need. We can only carry out work that the occupational therapist recommends, so it is important that they fully understand your needs.

What happens next?

The occupational therapist tells us what adaptations you need.

We have a limited budget for adaptations, but if the work is simple and costs under a set amount (currently £1,000), we will arrange to do it.

If the work is complicated, we ask our surveyor to visit your home with the occupational therapist. After the joint visit, we decide what will happen next and tell you.

What if the work needed is more expensive?

If the recommended work costs more than £1,000, we may not be able to pay for it ourselves. We would write to the occupational therapist to tell them this and send you a copy of our letter. We may ask you to apply for a disabled facilities grant to pay for the work.

What is a disabled facilities grant?

A disabled facilities grant is money towards the cost of the adaptations you need to help you live in your home. The value of the grant will depend on your income. The maximum grant is £25,500.

Who decides whether I can have a grant?

Your local council assesses your application and decides whether you can have a grant. The council’s contractors do the work.

If the council are happy with the recommended work and agree to pay for it, they write to us (as the owner of your home) to ask our permission to do the work.

What if I am unhappy with the work or assessment?

If we are doing the work, you can complain to us. You can do this by phone, by email, on our website, or by filling in one of our complaint forms (available from our offices).

If you are unhappy with the way in which the occupational therapist assesses your needs, or how your local council deals with your application for a disabled facilities grant, you must direct your complaint to them.

Who maintains the adaptations?

We will normally maintain any aids or adaptations in the property. Sometimes we ask you to pay a service charge.

How do you check what people think of the service?

We send a questionnaire to all tenants who we have fitted aids and adaptations for. We ask them how they feel about the service they received. We use the results to help improve our service.

For more information on aids and adaptations please download our leaflet below.

 Aids and adaptations (359KB / 8 pages)