We know how important your home is to you.
That's why we're committed to making a lasting difference to the everyday lives of our residents by providing support for them to live as independently as possible and make the best use of the facilities within their homes.
Your home could be adapted or fitted with special aids to make it easier to live in so that you can enjoy more independence and your loved ones can have peace of mind. This could restore dignity, improve safety, and make life easier both for disabled people themselves and for their carers. It can be crucial in avoiding a move into care or enabling someone to leave hospital.
Adaptations can be minor or major, and the type of adaptation you receive will depend on your individual needs. There are 3 categories of aids and adaptations that we can help you with:
Wherever possible we'd like to help you remain in your home.
What can we provide?
Each year we make budget available for providing minor aids and adaptations to our residents’ homes.
These works are normally recommended by an Occupational Therapist and funded by PA Housing up to a value of £500. They include but are not limited to:
- Grab rails.
- Fitting extra handrails near steps or stairs.
- Changing taps to lever taps.
- Small or removable ramps.
- Flashing or amplified doorbells
These are works that cost more than £1,000 and usually involve structural alterations, improvements or additions to the fabric of the building. Some examples include:
- Level access showers.
- Large permanent ramps.
- Stair lifts.
- Through floor lifts.
- Tracked hoists.
- Door widening.
- And more.
All enquiries and/or applications for aids and adaptations should be referred to the local authority first, clearly stating that you are a PA Housing resident. The local authority is responsible for managing all requests and will determine your eligibility. They will arrange for an Occupational Therapist to visit your home and assess your current situation to make sure that any adaptations meet your individual needs.
Once you’ve had your assessment, the Occupational Therapist will send us their written recommendations for us to review and action.
Once we have received all the relevant paperwork, we can begin to plan the works. If these works are minor, we will be able to carry them out as part of our normal repairs service for customers and they will be undertaken within our normal repair response time.
Major adaptations are partially or wholly funded via a local authority means-tested Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) up to a maximum value of £30,000. The means testing process will assess your financial situation and may conclude that a resident contribution is necessary. In these cases, we will contribute up to the first £1000 towards the cost of this. If the adaptations are for a child, you will not need to be assessed for a financial contribution.
Once the details have been agreed, we will liaise with the local authority throughout the process until the work has been completed. We will provide regular updates as works progress. After the works on your adaptation have been completed, we will arrange a date and time to inspect the work and make sure you’re happy. This would be the best time for you to tell us about your experience of the process, so that we can improve our services for you and other customers in the future.
We keep a record of all homes in which adaptations are present, and we will make every effort to allocate vacant adapted properties to customers who would most benefit from the provisions.
Equipment and aids
Your local authority will provide a range of freestanding portable or medical aids, including things like portable hoists, hospital beds, toilet frames, shower chairs and bathing equipment.
Requests for these items should be made to your local authority, not PA Housing. They'll be able to support you.
Find your local council
What if I need larger changes to my home?
You may be advised by your doctor or the hospital that you need larger changes to your home, or you may feel this is needed. If this is the case we will need a referral from an Occupational Therapist (OT). This can either be a social services OT through your local authority (LA) or a community OT through the local NHS Trust. An OT can visit your home and carry out a full assessment of all the changes required to enable you to safely remain in your home for as long as possible.
These larger adaptations, such as a level access shower or stairlift, will normally be funded through a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG). This is a means tested grant that is available through your LA. If work is funded through a DFG we will ask for details of the changes being made so that we can check that they suitable for the type of home you live in.
What if my home can’t be adapted?
Sometimes it is just not possible to adapt your home to meet your requirements. If this happens the OT report will recommend rehousing.
When rehousing is recommended, our Home Moves Team will work closely with you to discuss the options available. This may mean moving to another PA property or it may be necessary to consider other housing providers.
Get in touch
If you have any concerns, or you have any questions about adaptations which may be needed in your home, then please get in touch.
