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Applying for a Disabled Facilities Grant (Occupational Therapy)

1. When to use this Procedure

This procedure should be used:

  1. Following an appropriate and proportionate assessment of need; and
  2. When a major adaptation is the most appropriate and proportionate way to meet needs; and
  3. Local policy has confirmed that the adaptation can be provided under the HGCRA; and
  4. When eligibility for a Disabled Facilities Grant under the HGCRA is likely to me met; and
  5. An application for a DFG is to be made.

With regard to point d. - see: Establishing Likely Eligibility for a Disabled Facilities Grant as required.

2. Supporting the Person to make an Application

Who can make an application

Applications for a DFG can be made by:

  1. A disabled person who owns their own home;
  2. A disabled person who is a tenant; or
  3. A landlord whose tenant is disabled and adaptations are required to meet the disabled tenant's needs.

The type of building that the disabled person resides in can be:

  1. A house or bungalow;
  2. A flat;
  3. A houseboat (qualifying criteria applies); or
  4. A park home (qualifying criteria applies).
Need to Know
It is important that you advise the person that if they start to carry out any work to the property requiring adaptation before the DFG has been considered the Local Authority may not approve the grant.
Need to Know
You should remind the person making the application that the grant is means tested and will take into consideration the income and savings of the disabled person, their spouse and any other family member living in the same home.

If the person making the application needs support

People can have support to make an application for a Disabled Facilities Grant. This is normally provided by a Housing Information Advisor (HIA), although anyone who is able to support the person can do so.

The DFG is provided under the HGCRA and not the Care Act, and as such there is no duty to make an independent advocate available. However for the purpose of facilitating the application and delaying the duty to meet eligible needs an advocate should be considered whenever:

  1. The person lacks capacity to make an application; or
  2. The person will have substantial difficulty making the application; and
  3. There is no appropriate person to support them to make the application.

You must make sure that you have provided the person (or the person completing the application on their behalf) with any information they will need in order to complete the application, including any guidance about making the application and information about the person's assessed needs.

3. Providing Evidence

You must provide evidence to the Housing Authority to support the DFG application. This should be done in line with local processes and requirements.

The evidence must include the following information:

  1. Your role and the nature of your intervention with the person making the application;
  2. The needs that the person has, based upon the eligibility criteria set out in section 23 of the HGCRA;
  3. The evidence used to make a determination about the nature and level of need;
  4. Whether the adaptations proposed are necessary to meet the identified needs and your rationale for this (including risk, sustainability and appropriateness of current support being provided);
  5. Whether the adaptations proposed are appropriate to meet the identified needs and your rationale for this (including what alternative options have been explored, what may be available and why this is not appropriate).
  6. Any information available to you in regard of the building to be adapted that may assist the Housing Authority to make a determination about how 'reasonable and practicable' this is; and
  7. Any other information that you feel it would be beneficial to include for the purpose of supporting the application.

4. Monitoring the Application

Monitoring

The statutory timeframe for making a determination following a DFG application is 6 months. It is the responsibility of the Housing Authority to consider the application in a timely way. However, you should take appropriate steps to ensure that you monitor progress of the application for the purpose of:

  1. Making sure that the needs you identified at assessment are met in a timely way; and
  2. Identifying and responding to any need to provide urgent or interim support.

Monitoring could include:

  1. E-mail contact with the named contact at the Housing Authority;
  2. Telephone contact with the person or carer.

Proportionate records should be made of all monitoring activity.

If you are concerned about the time it is taking to reach a determination you should discuss your concerns and agree any action with your line manager.

Urgent and Interim Support

If a DFG application outcome, and any subsequent provision of adaptation is not likely to take place for some time you must consider whether:

  1. There is appropriate support in place to meet the needs identified during assessment in the interim (either though a carer or an existing Care and Support Plan); and
  2. If not, the steps that need to be taken to ensure any urgent needs are met.

If a practitioner from an appropriate service is already involved with the person you should:

  1. Inform them that the DFG outcome is not yet known and that the person appears to have unmet urgent needs;
  2. Advise them of a possible timeframe for the DFG outcome; and
  3. Provide them with access to any information gathered through assessment so they can prioritise and consider the most appropriate course of action.

If the person is not known to an appropriate service you will need to make the relevant referral.

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