The cost of adapting your home

Can you put a price on your independence?

For many homeowners, one of the biggest barriers to re-modelling their bathroom is the cost involved. However, for individual remodelling due to a disability or mobility problem, local councils now offer a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) to enable you to continue to live there. A grant is usually paid when the council considers that changes are necessary to meet your needs, and that the work is reasonable and practical.

Who can get a Disabled Facilities Grant?
In order to claim for a Disabled Facilities Grant, you, or someone living in your property, must be disabled. You must also be the owner or tenant (including licensees) of the property with the ability to certify that you intend to occupy the property throughout the grant period (five years). A landlord may also apply on behalf of a disabled tenant.

What can you use your Disabled Facilities Grant for?
A Disabled Facilities Grant can be used for a number of adaptations to ensure your home is better equipped to provide you with freedom of movement and the essential facilities required to live in it. This includes:

• widening doors or installing ramps
• providing or improving access to rooms and facilities – for example, installing a downstairs bathroom
• improving or providing a heating system which is suitable for your needs
• adapting heating or lighting controls to make them easier to use
• improving access to and movement around the home to enable you to care for another person who lives in the property.

How much will you be given?
The grant available is based on a financial assessment or ‘means test’, which measures your average weekly income in relation to your outgoings. Means testing also takes the following into account:

• Account savings: Account savings are only taken into account above a certain limit. The current limit is £6,000. However, if the disabled person’s income and savings are below this limit, there will be no need for him/her to contribute to the cost of the works.
• Benefits: Disability Living Allowance and Income Support are generally disregarded during the assessment period.
• Combined income: If you have a partner, your combined income will be assessed jointly. Capital is also included in the means test. However, the first £6,000 of savings is disregarded.

When assessing your outgoings, a range of premiums and allowances is used, for example, rent/mortgage and personal expenditure. Actual recorded outgoings are not taken into consideration.

Depending on the outcome of this assessment, the grant can vary from 0 to 100 per cent of the refurbishment costs. The maximum amount that a council is required to pay is £30,000 in England, per application, less any assessed contribution from you. If the cost of the eligible works is more, the council can use discretionary powers to increase the amount.

Will this grant affect your other benefits?
No. A Disabled Facilities Grant will not affect any benefits you are currently receiving.

How do you apply?
Contact your local council’s housing or environmental health department and ask them to send you the Disabled Facilities Grant application form. You must apply before you start any refurbishment. The local council must notify you with the result of your application, in writing, within six months of the date of your application.

How is the grant paid?
The grant can be paid in instalments, or in full on completion of the work. The council may pay the contractor directly, or give you a cheque to pass on. They will agree this with you at the outset.

What if you’re refused?
If you are refused a Disabled Facilities Grant, or you’re unhappy with the amount awarded, you can appeal against the decision. Ask your local council for their appeals and complaints procedure.

Where can you get more information?
For more information, please contact your local council or you can contact the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) on 0303 444 0000 or email: disabled.facilitiesgrant@communities.gsi.gov.uk

For more information on our range of daily living equipment for bathrooms, please call 020 8722 7004.

Don’t let restricted mobility restrict your bathroom choices

The bathroom is one of the key rooms in your home for relaxing and enjoying that little touch of luxury. It is also the place where the ability to do things independently is extremely important.

However, showering, bathing or having a shave are all everyday tasks most of us will take for granted. They all require a range of movements that necessitates flexibility, balance, strength and co-ordination. For the elderly, disabled or those with mobility problems however, these everyday tasks can be difficult to do alone. No one wants to lose his or her independence, or the ability to choose when help is required. For a long time, the technology needed to assist independent living was often built to suit the needs of nursing homes or hospitals, and rarely residential properties, but this is now changing.

New ranges are now available consisting of speciality walk in baths, portable or fixed bath lifts, disabled toilets and a wide range of bathroom accessories designed for every individual, ensuring no matter what your level of mobility, you can get the most out of your bathroom.

Top tips for designing a bathroom that meets your needs

The last thing you want is for someone to design a bathroom that doesn’t meet your needs – whatever they may be. So, what should you consider? A good bathroom design company will access your bathroom and your mobility needs to ensure you have the right type of bath or walk-in shower for you and your home. These top tips will help you ensure you are getting the right guidance for your money, and a bathroom you can enjoy.

Enable access to all facilities
The bathroom is quite possible one of the most awkward spaces to work with. For example, a person with a wheelchair must be able to access all of the facilities provided and manoeuvre around the room without constraint.  All facilities should be at a suitable height for regular use. There should also be a suitable space beneath the counter top so that the individual can get closer to the taps.

While surfaces and sinks are mounted at a lower height, toilets can be raised to enable movement from a wheelchair. The seat ideally should be elongated rather than round and support must be provided, such as handrails to enable movement without assistance.

Adapt facilities for enhanced use
Facilities need to be adapted not just for accessibility, but also for general use. Safety and security are key factors in building the confidence to use a bathroom independently. For example, many taps are tricky for anyone to use, especially once your hands are wet and soapy. If your grip is even slightly reduced, lever taps will be much easier to operate. Alternatively you can now find taps with infrared sensors that you won’t need to even touch at all.

Provide suitable support
Handrails must be provided throughout the household. As an essential aid, they help boost access and mobility as you move around your bathroom. Handrails are available in a wide range of varying lengths and thicknesses based on your grip or dexterity. Some rails have a special grip-assisted surface to enhance safety, and are available in bright colours for easy identification and use. All bathrooms should also feature slip-resistant floors for safety at all times.

Remove the barriers to mobility
In a disabled or limited mobility household bathroom, standard bath and shower fixtures create a number of barriers for the elderly and disabled, primarily involving access and mobility.  Walk-in baths and showers provide the ideal solution.

Accessible bathing
Available in the same size, or smaller, than a conventional bath, walk-in baths are available with a low-threshold and wide inward-opening door for ease of entry. Many bath designs will feature a contoured seat for comfort and to facilitate easier bathing by helping users to maintain an upright seated position.

Bath lifts may also be required. A bath lift is a safe way of enabling easier bathing. Suitable for most traditional baths, a bath lift will fit securely to the base of your bath and can be gently lowered and raised with a choice of recline positions.

Walk-in showers
Available with a choice of level, above floor or ramped access, these showers are designed with practicality in mind. Many walk-in showers can also be fitted with a shower seat to make showering easier for those who have difficulty standing for long periods.

Wet rooms
Alternatively, you could transform your bathroom into a ‘wet room’ for ultimate accessibility and ease of use. Wet rooms are completely waterproofed bathrooms, complete with a walk-in shower. No shower tray is required and the drain is set into the floor, which can be sloped to enable water to easily drain away.

Equip your bathroom with the right accessories
Once you’ve decided whether it’s a walk-in shower, bath or wet room you require, it’s time to think about the wider accessories you need. Based on your individual requirements, these can range from grip rails to assist with moving in and out of a bath; slip resistant mats; flood detectors; temperature and water level indicators, through to adapting heating or lighting controls to make them easier to use.

The most important factor throughout the design of your bathroom is safety and functionality. Your bathroom must cater for you and your needs without adding any further hazards. For more information on our range of daily living equipment for bathrooms, please call 020 8722 7004 or visit www.h2oservices.com.

To find out more, please call 020 8722 7004