Adjustments to your home to help you live independently

There are two services available to help you make changes to your home so that you can continue to live there safely.

Handyperson service

Our handyperson service helps people to keep living independently in their own homes as they grow older or their circumstances change. By making adaptations around the home we can help make your surroundings safer and more comfortable. We can also offer information about other services that could help.

Changes to your home could include fitting:

• a banister rail or grab rail
• stair lift
• shower chair

Funding available for home adaptations

If you are finding it difficult to get around your home safely, and own your own home, or rent from a private landlord, you may qualify for funding for part or all of the adaptations needed to alter the property. 

The amount of funding you receive will depend on an assessment - this will be carried out by a social care professional. For further details about whether you are eligible for financial support visit our paying for care page.

Major adaptations service

If you are disabled, adaptations made to your home could help you get into and move around your home more easily.

The service offered varies, but normally covers:

• identifying solutions
• help in putting a plan together for suitable adaptations
• assisting with grant applications
• selecting a builder
• ensuring that work is carried out properly

Where major adaptations are required, an occupational therapist will carry out an assessment to see what kind of help you need. This assessment will also see if you are able to get a disabled facilities grant. This grant will help pay for the adaptations.

We are experiencing high levels of demand, which means we may not be able to arrange an assessment as quickly as we would like. If you have contacted us and are waiting for a response, please be assured that we have received your information and will be in touch with you as soon as possible.

Disabled facilities grants

Disabled facilities grants can help fund the following types of work:

• make it easier to get in and out of your home, for example by widening doors and installing ramps
• make sure that you and other people in your home are safe, for example with a room that is specially adapted so that a disabled person can be safely left unattended, or by making improvements to lighting
• improve or provide access to the bedroom, living room, kitchen, toilet, or washing facilities, for example by installing a stair lift or a downstairs bathroom
• improve or provide a suitable heating system
• adapt heating or lighting controls to make them easier to use
• improve access and movement around your home so you can care for someone else who lives there, like a partner or child
• improve access to and from the garden of your home, if this is possible

The disabled facilities grant is means tested. This means we will look at things like your income and your savings to work out whether you will receive a grant, or if you need to contribute towards the cost of the work. Find out more about disabled facilities grants on the GOV.UK website.