Adaptations for tenants of Yorkshire Housing Group
An adaptation is an alteration or change to a home that enables a person with a disability to be able to live comfortably in it in a similar way to a person without a disability.
If you are having problems living in your home because of your health or a disability contact your Housing Officer. We may be able to help by carrying out a minor adaptation to your home. This could include any of the following;
- Extra hand rail on your staircase to help you get up and down the stairs
- Grab rails in your bathroom or toilet
- Extra step and grab rail at your front door
- New tap handles if yours are difficult to turn
- More lighting if your sight is failing
- Lowering a cupboard or worktop
To decide what help you will need we ask to you to fill in a self assessment form which you can download here. This asks you to describe the problems you are experiencing and what help you might need. We may also suggest you contact Social Services and ask for an Occupational Therapist Assessment (OT) to help establish what is required. They can also help with equipment to assist people which we would not be able to provide.
We aim to provide minor adaptations within 21 working days. After the work has been finished we will contact you again to find out if you were happy with what happend and most importantly if the adaptation has made your life easier. If you are still experiencing problems we will suggest that you ask for an Occupational Therapist Assessment.
Major Adaptations
If you need more work to your home and it is likely to cost more than £1000 we will talk to you about applying for a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG). These grants are available from your local council.
Disabled Facilities Grants
Disabled Facilities Grant is a local council grant to help towards the cost of adapting your home to enable you to continue to live there. A grant is paid where the council considers the changes necessary to meet your needs - and is happy that the work is reasonable and practical.
You can claim if you, or someone living in your property, is disabled and:
- you, or the person on whose behalf you are applying, are either the owner or tenant (including licensees) of the property
- you can certify that you, or the person on whose behalf you are applying, intend to occupy the property as your/their only or main residence throughout the grant period - currently five years
A landlord can apply on behalf of a disabled tenant
To qualify for a grant an OT will carry out a full assessment with you to establish exactly what may be required. Because significant work is involved this process can take much longer and there are a number of factors to consider along with your health. For example whether the home you live in can be successful adapted. In some cases it may be we have another home that would be more suitable for you and this will also be discussed.
Each local authority will have a waiting list of people needing grants. If it is likely that you will have to wait more then 12 months to have the work done, Yorkshire Housing will consider paying for this work instead.
We aim to work in partnership with each local authority to make sure you get the help you need.
Other options
Moving home might be a better option and each local authority has a register of housing that might be suitable for a disabled person or family or that could be easily adapted.
If your home is to be included in a improvement programme within a year we may carry out the work as part of this programme.
We also build new homes for disabled people in partnership with local authorities and this might be an option particularly for a family.
Where can I get more information?
Contact you local council and there is also a lot of information on the internet.
You can visit the following websites
Disability UK
HMSO
http://www.direct.gov.uk