Paying for home adaptations in Scotland

What are home adaptations?

If you live in Scotland and you’re finding it difficult to manage day-to-day tasks within your home, whether due to a disability or just getting older, paying for home adaptations could be a great option for you.

Ranging from minor changes, such as installing handrails or a seat in your shower, through to structural changes including fitting a bathroom downstairs or lowering your kitchen worktops, home adaptations can make life easier for you and enable you to continue living safely and independently in your own home.

Minor home adaptations in Scotland

If you live in Scotland and are older and/or living with a disability, your local council will usually cover any minor home adaptations up to £1500 (per adaptation). This won’t be means tested and should apply to anyone, regardless of their personal circumstances.

Major home adaptations in Scotland

If you need help paying for more significant home adaptations, your local council will first carry out a home assessment.

What is a home assessment?

A home assessment involves a healthcare professional, such as an Occupational Therapist, visiting your home and spending time with you. They’ll ask questions about your daily life and the things you are finding difficult. Home assessments are free and can be arranged through your local council.

The aim of the home assessment is to identify what kind of home adaptations you would benefit from and decide how best to start getting these in place.

Depending on your circumstances, your local council may also wish to carry out a needs assessment which is very similar to a home assessment but, rather than looking at your house, you’ll be asked questions about your personal health and wellbeing to determine other types of support that you may benefit from.

Funding options for home adaptations in Scotland

Scheme of Assistance

If you are a homeowner and looking to carry out repairs or adaptations to your property, The Scheme of Assistance offers financial and non-financial support and guidance.

The Scheme of Assistance is enforced by local authorities, and each is required to publish a scheme of assistance statement which outlines what support it can provide in that area.

Whilst this means that the support available may differ depending on where in Scotland you live, there are some things that all local authorities are required to do.

This includes help:

• To adapt a house to make it suitable for a disabled person to occupy. If the adaptations are to help a person access standard amenities, this assistance must be a grant.
• To reinstate an adapted house – in this case, the local authority must provide a grant.
• To an owner who has been served a statutory notice or work order, although this might be information, advice and practical help, not financial help.

Mandatory grants

As was mentioned above, through the Scheme of Assistance, you may be entitled to a grant to help with the cost of home repairs. This is also known as a mandatory grant or a disabled home improvement grant.

Who is eligible?

To be eligible for the grant, you’ll need to own your own home or be a private tenant (i.e., not through a housing association or your local council).

If you are a private tenant, you will need to get permission from your landlord for any adaptations. In most cases, they are only able to refuse with legitimate reasons, but there may be some conditions on their agreement, such as reverting the property back to its original condition if you move out.

To avoid any issues, try to contact your landlord as soon as the need for adaptations comes about. This way they will be aware of your intentions, and you can hopefully work together to ensure the property is suitable for you.

How much is the grant?

There is no lower or upper limit on a mandatory grant, but your local authority will check that the adaptations are necessary, that the cost of the work is reasonable and that you are eligible for financial support.

This means that the amount you receive will depend on the adaptations that are required as well as your individual circumstances.

If you, or someone you live with, receives the following benefits, you should be able to get a grant to cover 100% of the cost of the adaptations:

• Income Support
• Income Based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Pension Credit (guarantee element)
• Income Related employment and Support Allowance

If you’re not receiving any of the benefits listed, you’ll be eligible for 80% of the total costs of the adaptations. This amount is not means tested, and your local council will provide guidance if you need help covering the remaining 20% of the costs, including a ‘top up’ in some cases.

Applying for a grant

To apply for a mandatory grant, you will need to contact Social Work adult services.

You can do this by:

• Completing the form here
• Or by calling: 0300 100 1800

Support for housing association and council tenants

If you are a council or housing association tenant, you should let your landlord know if you need adaptations in your home. In most cases, adaptations will be carried out and funded by the council or housing association, with no charge to you.

Typically for this to happen you will need to have undertaken a needs assessment, as was mentioned previously. You can find out more information and needs assessments and what they entail in our article here.

If your landlord, whether it’s a housing association or the council, isn’t able to arrange for the adaptations that you need, they may find you an alternative home that better suits you.

Care and Repair services

Available throughout Scotland, Care and Repair services provide support for people who are over 60 years old and/or people living with a disability. They are able to offer help and advice for people who own their own home, are renting privately or are part of a crofting household.

Care and Repair services are managed by local companies, meaning that the services offered may differ depending on where in Scotland you live.

For example, Glasgow’s Care and Repair Service offers minor repairs and a handyperson service free of charge for older and disabled people. They ask that the cost of the materials required is covered by the customer, and then the company will do the work free of charge. 

You can find your local Care and Repair office on the website here.

Advocacy

If you’re unsure or worried about navigating home adaptations, an advocate may be able to offer you support and guidance through the process.

Advocates help by representing you, your wishes and your goals, serving as an additional voice where you feel you may not be heard, or are worried you may not fully understand things.

Advocates can be informal, such as a family member or friend, or they can be a third-party person who is specially appointed to represent you – also known as an independent advocate. You can find out more about independent advocates and whether it might be a good option for you on the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance’s website here.