Sources of funds for home adaptations

[Guest]

We have been allocated a sheltered bungalow, but have been told the council have no money for adapting the bathroom to a wetroom. Does anyone know where we can look for funds or grants to get his done? We hope to see over the bungalow this week.

Clive

[Guest]

Councils alway seem to say they haven't got any funding. Asked to be assessed by your OT, once the OT says you need a wetroom then the council has to provide you with the adaptations under section 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970.

Welfare and housing

1 Information as to need for and existence of welfare services.
(1)Where a local authority having functions under section 29 of the M2National Assistance Act 1948 are satisfied in the case of any person to whom that section applies who is ordinarily resident in their area that it is necessary in order to meet the needs of that person for that authority to make arrangements for all or any of the following matters, namely—

(a)the provision of practical assistance for that person in his home;

(b)the provision for that person of, or assistance to that person in obtaining, wireless, television, library or similar recreational facilities;

(c)the provision for that person of lectures, games, outings or other recreational facilities outside his home or assistance to that person in taking advantage of educational facilities available to him;

(d)the provision for that person of facilities for, or assistance in, travelling to and from his home for the purpose of participating in any services provided under arrangements made by the authority under the said section 29 or, with the approval of the authority, in any services provided otherwise than as aforesaid which are similar to services which could be provided under such arrangements;

(e)the provision of assistance for that person in arranging for the carrying out of any works of adaptation in his home or the provision of any additional facilities designed to secure his greater safety, comfort or convenience;

(f)facilitating the taking of holidays by that person, whether at holiday homes or otherwise and whether provided under arrangements made by the authority or otherwise;

(g)the provision of meals for that person whether in his home or elsewhere;

(h)the provision for that person of, or assistance to that person in obtaining, a telephone and any special equipment necessary to enable him to use a telephone,

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1970/44

[luce]

Hi
My mum achieved funding via the major adaptations team. You can contact them direct or an OT or other professional working with you will be able to refer. There were lengthy delays with my mum but in the end things ended up all right. the woman from major adaptations team (via the city council) said that it would have been a lot faster to get the adaptations if we had called them directly to push things along earlier than we did.

Incidently, they would not fund a wet room as it costs a lot of money and they balance up the funding available with life expectancy (sorry to be direct on this matter but that is what we were told). Anyway, in the end even though they did not fund a wet room for my mum they did fund removal of the bath and installation of a walk in shower cubicle with pump. a wet room would have costed more; a bath adaptation would have been no good as mum had a corner bath- and also she wanted to remain indepenedent and not go with a hoist.

so yes, the issue of funding- you may not get a wet room but you may get a suitable alternative that is accessible and retains independence; but dont give up and try for a wet room if you think it is better for you in your situation.

They will also do a financial assessment. My understanding is if you get council tax benefit then that is enough for them to fully fund.

best wishes
Luce

[computatec]

Thanks Jeannie and Luce for your encouraging replies. I suspect this is our borough council, who are the landlords protecting thier budget. Adult care is the county council, who I suspect will have the responsibility for fuding it. My first hurdle is to get an OT to assess me.

Clive

[jadedjohn]

if you have a decent pension/income you wil have to pay yourself - I'm only 43 but luckily got retired on ill health grounds so I have a full final salary pension, and up-to-date the only help I get is DLA. - Everything and I mean everything I will have to pay for myself because if you have more than £16k coming in your buggered.

Sorry to be so negative, but if you have worked all your life you get nothing, but if you've been living on benefits you get everything!

john

[hng6798]

I agree that sometimes the process does not work for everyone. However, you have to be creative with how you go about finding the money for adaptations. Law says that they have to accommodate reasonable requests. There are specific contractors that work on this type of thing. For example, they give you an estimate and then send that estimate directly to the governing body that will approve or deny it. This typically means that they take care of all the medical billing as well. Generally, they have relationships with these people so you are more likely to get approved! I don't know if you have any in your area, but these types of contractors are popping up all over.