Purpose

The Disability Facilities Grant policy has
been updated to provide clarity on the parameters of the policy and
applicants eligibility

Content

Disabled Facilities Grants
(DFG) were delivered by the Grants & Adaptations Team within
the Housing Service, in accordance with the current Housing
Improvement and Adaptations Policy which was adopted in April 2020.
Most of the adaptations that were carried out using DFG funds help
to support residents to live independently for longer at home and
reduce the need for care services or makes lives easier for family
members who care for loved ones. As well as improving independence,
these adaptations were also preventative measures, helping to
reduce hospital admissions due to injuries from falls.
 
The Buckinghamshire Housing
Improvement and Adaptation Policy was a published policy and had
not been updated since its adoption and was currently being applied
to those who approached Buckinghamshire Council to apply for
assistance to keep people safe and independent at home. Since the
last policy was implemented, a new non-statutory guidance on
delivering DFGs was published in 2022, which had driven a review of
the policy to ensure it reflected current best practice.
 
Since 2021-22, the DFG
allocation for Buckinghamshire had been £4.065m annually and
for 2025-26 it was £5.045m. The maximum mandatory DFG was
£30,000, however, as building costs had risen sharply in
recent years and the complexity of need (particularly for disabled
children’s adaptations) had grown, £30,000 was often
inadequate to fully meet complex needs. While demand for DFG
remained high, if expenditure were limited to the mandatory DFG of
£30,000 alone, it was likely that the service would be unable
to spend the full DFG allocation leaving needs of disabled people
unmet.
 
The DFG and Housing Assistance
policy set out how the council would use its discretion to provide
assistance to ensure that needs could be met as well as to ensure
the allocation was fully spent; the objectives of the policy looked
to preventing accidents and poor health and to help people to
remain living independently in their homes for as long as possible.
In addition, DFG funding also supported other related purposes to
meet the policy objectives (for example carrying out essential
repairs and heating improvements). Budget spend was monitored
monthly and priority was given to meeting mandatory adaptation
needs.
 
The current review of the
funding formula (by Government) may result in a smaller allocation
for Buckinghamshire in future years which could impact on the
ability to provide some discretionary assistance.
 
RESOLVED that the Disabled Facilities Grant and Housing
Assistance Policy be approved for adoption.