Grants and assistance available

What adaptations could the grant cover?

• installing a stair lift

• modifying a bathroom

• providing ramps

• making doorways wider

• making sleeping and toilet facilities accessible

and much more...

Who is eligible and how to apply

You can apply for a mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant if you are a private owner occupier, private tenant or housing association tenant who has had an assessment by an Occupational Therapist which suggested adaptations to your home are required for your needs. Please enquire about a grant with our Housing team if you are a council tenant. Contact the private sector housing team for further information - email dfg@southkesteven.gov.uk 

Request an assessment

You can arrange this with Lincolnshire County Council's Social Services team.

Contact the Adult Social Care team on 01522 782155 or the Children with Disabilities team on 01522 782111. 

After you have been assessed, if the Occupational Therapist considers you may be eligible, they will forward us a recommendation based on your needs. The works must be necessary and appropriate to meet the needs of the disabled occupant and it must be reasonable and practicable to carry out the work. 

The Private Sector Housing Team will then contact you to collect some initial financial information and carry out a means test. This is used to assess the level of contribution the disabled person would have to make towards the cost of the works. If your application proceeds, plans will be drawn up (if applicable) for approval by the Occupational Therapist prior to approval of a grant.

The grant pays for essential adaptations identified in the Occupational Therapist assessment as 'necessary and appropriate' and according to our standard specification. If you wish to have work undertaken higher than our specification you may do so but you would need to pay any additional cost yourself.

If you start your work before you have submitted a full application and before you have been informed about the decision, you will need to be prepared to pay for all the associated cost yourself.  We are not able to give a grant retrospectively once the work has started.

The maximum mandatory grant funding available is £30,000. The actual amount of grant funding awarded is determined only by the adaptations that are deemed necessary and appropriate by the Occupational Therapist. i.e. when we determine the grant where adaptations cost less than £30,000 no  further grant money can be made available for any other works on the property. The grant is subject to means-testing and the amount awarded will depend on your own financial circumstances, you may need to pay part or all of the cost of the work.

Although we pay for whole or part of the work, the contractual relationship is between you and the contractor(s). We will not undertake any additional costs associated with any disputes between you and the contractor(s).

In certain cases a local land charge of up to £10,000 can be placed on the property which must be repaid if the property is sold or disposed of within 10 years.

If within five years you do not need the adaptation for whatever reason, you or your representatives are obliged to inform us; this is because we may wish to remove the equipment if practical (e.g. stair-lift) for it to benefit another household.

You may be able to get financial help from the government to buy a home.

• Shared Ownership is aimed at people who can't afford to buy a property on the open market and is when individuals buy a share in a home and pay a subsidised rent on the share that they do not own to a registered provider, usually a housing association.

Please click here for more information.

The Rent Deposit Scheme is one of the ways in which South Kesteven District Council help homeless and vulnerable households into privately rented accommodation.

Are you eligible?

In order to be considered for this scheme, you must have an active homelessness application with us and be currently working with a housing options officer. Speak to your allocated officer for more details about the scheme

How does it work?

The scheme is made up of two parts - a rent in advance loan and a deposit guarantee agreement (bond).  On occasion, the Council may be able to provide a deposit advance loan, instead of a paper bond. The rent in advance loan is paid directly to your new landlord to cover the cost of the first month's rent. You will need to repay the Council and affordable repayments will be arranged for this.

The bond is a written agreement that the council makes with your landlord, to reimburse them for any damage (up to an agreed amount) caused to the property by your household or your visitors during your tenancy. If the council has to make any payments, you will need to pay the council back.

How do I apply?

In order to be considered for this scheme, you must have an active homelessness application with us and be currently working with a housing options officer. Speak to your allocated officer for more details about the scheme

This grant of up to £10,000 may be available to owner occupiers in conjunction with a Mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant where the cost of the eligible works exceeds the current mandatory limit of £30,000.

The applicant's ability to afford the excess over the mandatory grant amount will be assessed by carrying out a means test of their resources.  This will include a means test of the resources of parents/guardians of disabled children applying for discretionary DFG top-up funding.

The grant must be repaid in full if the property is sold within 10 years of completion of the works.

Please contact the private sector housing team for further information email dfg@southkesteven.gov.uk

This is available to any disabled person who is eligible for the mandatory disabled facilities grant, but who does not have the financial resources to pay any contribution towards the necessary adaptations.  The maximum grant is £7,000 (including fees).

If you are an owner occupier, the grant must be repaid if the property is sold within 10 years of completion of the works (the repayment amount reduces by 10% for each complete year).

Only one application will be considered in any 12 month period (taken from date of approval).

Please contact the private sector housing team for further information dfg@southkesteven.gov.uk

This assistance enables disabled people who would be eligible for a Mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant to move to more suitable accommodation where it is considered more appropriate than providing funding through a Mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant to adapt their existing home.    This funding of up to £10,000 may be used in conjunction with a Mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant to undertake eligible works to the new property which they must own.

This may include circumstances where the existing accommodation is not reasonably and practicably capable of being adapted to meet the needs of the disabled person.

The funding is subject to the prescribed test of resources applicable to mandatory disabled facilities grants. Where the disabled person is a child, the parents/legal guardians will be means tested.

This funding may only be awarded once and must be repaid in full if the property is sold within 10 years of completion of the purchase.

Please contact the private sector housing team for further information email dfg@southkesteven.gov.uk

This assistance is for any person in hospital whose discharge is delayed due to the condition of their permanent home.  The assistance may fund urgent adaptations that allow access in and around the person's home for example by providing a stair lift or ramp.  Other minor works which are needed to facilitate their discharge from hospital will also be considered e.g. one off clearance of hoarded properties and works to heating systems.  The maximum available grant is £10,000 and must be repaid if the property is owner occupied and sold within 10 years of completion of the work (the repayment amount reduces by 10% for each complete year).

Applications must be supported by a referral from an Occupational Therapist or other suitably qualified professional confirming the urgent works that are required to the home to enable discharge.

Please contact the private sector housing team for further information email dfg@southkesteven.gov.uk

This assistance is for owner occupiers over the age of 65, or those with chronic or severe health conditions affected by poor housing conditions (verified by a GP or medical professional), who need to undertake essential repairs to their home in order to remain safe and healthy, for example heating repairs or works to prevent falls.  Essential repairs are determined as a Category 1 (serious) or significant Category 2 (other) hazards as determined by the Housing Act 2004.  The maximum available funding is £8,000 (including fees). The grant must be repaid if the property is sold within 10 years of completion of the works.

The property must be more than 10 years old and applicants must have lived at the address for a minimum of 12 months.  The applicant must be in receipt of a qualifying benefit (see below) or have an annual household income after tax of below £23,250.

Tenants in privately rented properties may be eligible for a grant for essential repairs to the home to remain safe and healthy and where such repairs are not the responsibility of the landlord. 

Qualifying benefits:

Please contact the private sector housing team for further information email dfg@southkesteven.gov.uk

Funding to provide aids and adaptations designed to enable people with a diagnosis of dementia to manage their surroundings and retain their independence at home.

Applicants must be owner occupiers or private tenants with a clinical diagnosis of dementia and referred by a General Practitioner, Dementia Support worker or other relevant health professional, confirming the works which are necessary and appropriate to support them to retain their independence.

The maximum available grant is £750.  Only one application will be considered within any 3 year period.

Please contact the private sector housing team for further information email dfg@southkesteven.gov.uk

A grant for a stair lift and/or modular access ramp is available to any disabled resident who meets the criteria for a Mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant. The maximum funding available is £7,000 per item.

This grant is not subject to a financial assessment or re-payment condition, but the application must be supported by a recommendation for the adaptation from a Lincolnshire County Council Occupational Therapist.