Housing grants
Mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG)
A Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) is a means-tested grant to help with the cost of home adaptations.
Cotswold District Council works with Gloucestershire County Council to provide DFGs to residents who have been assessed by an occupational therapist and are eligible for help.
To find out more about DFGs and how to apply, visit: https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/disabilities/disabled-facilities-grants/
Grant assistance is available to give the disabled person more independence in and around their home and access to essential facilities. A grant up to £30,000 can be given. Adaptations range from ramps, stair lifts and replacing a bath with a shower to building a ground floor bathroom extension.
What is a Disabled Facilities Grant?
Council and Housing Association tenants
If you’re a Council or Housing Association tenant who needs minor adaptations such as grab rails you can request this work directly from you landlord.
Steps to request a Disabled Facilities Grant
Step 1: Contact relevant Social Services helpdesk below to set up a visit and assessment by an Occupational Therapist
Grant assistance can only be considered once the council has received a referral from an Occupational Therapist so the first step to making a grant application is to phone the relevant helpdesk below and set up an Occupational Therapist assessment to see if they think adaptations would be necessary to meet the disabled person’s needs.
| Helpdesk | Telephone | Email and website |
|---|---|---|
| Adult Social Care | 01452 426868 | Email: Adult Social Care team Website: Adult Social Care - General Enquiry Form | ASC Form Privacy – Gloucestershire Forms |
| Children and families for disabled children up to 19 years | 01452 426565 | Email: Children's helpdesk Website: https://www.ghc.nhs.uk/our-teams-and-services/childrens-occupational-therapy/ |
Step 2: The Occupational Therapist will send the council a referral if they think adaptations are required to meet the medical needs of the disabled person
Step 3: The Grant officer will contact the applicant to start the application process
For more information please:
Discretionary grants
Warm and Well
Cotswold District Council, along with the six other councils in Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire, works in partnership with Seven Wye Energy Agency (SWEA) to run the Warm and Well project, offering free energy advice to residents.
For details click here: Warm and Well Scheme
Relocation grant
In some cases if adaptations are too costly or not feasible, we may need to consider rehousing to a more suitable property. There is a discretionary grant available from the council that could help with relocation costs and/or purchasing costs of a new property. For more information about rehousing to a housing association property, please:
- View the moving on/relocation grant information sheet
- Visit the Homeseeker Plus website
Agent information and resources
If you are in need of an agent or surveyor to help with plans for an adaptation, please see the Project Managers (agents) list below along with the following guide for appointing a contractor or agent and a guide setting out the expectations for an agent:
- Project managers (agents) - DFG list for Gloucestershire | Gloucestershire County Council
- Appointing a contractor or agent guide | Gloucestershire County Council
- Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) - professional services guidance (Gloucestershire) | Gloucestershire County Council
Funding for Community-led Housing
The Government’s Community Housing Fund is managed by Homes England. The bidding for this grant programme has finished. However, on the 30th January 2021 the government announced the renewal of the Community Housing Fund for 2021/2022 to support community led housing. The Community Housing Fund will provide revenue funding aimed at supporting community-based organisations to progress opportunities for local house building projects and prepare bids to access grant funding from the Affordable Homes Programme. We hope further information will be available shortly.
The Community Led Homes website has a comprehensive list of funding sources for Community-led housing.
We have a small amount of funding to support groups in the Cotswolds with their Community-led housing projects.
There are two grants available:
- the start-up grant of up to £1000, for groups to become established in their community and incorporate into a formal organisation
- pre-development grant (up to £10,000) for established groups who are progressing their housing project to planning application stage.
