New Funding to Support Independent Living for Older and Disabled People

Community_Scope

£50 million boost to help more people live independently at home

The government has announced an extra £50 million for the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) in 2025–26, helping around 5,000 more older and disabled people adapt their homes so they can live safely and independently.

The funding supports vital home improvements such as..

• Stairlifts and ramps
• Accessible bathrooms
• Ceiling hoists and lifts
• Smart technology for lighting and heating

This brings total DFG funding for 2025–26 to £761 million, helping around 60,000 people each year with life-changing home adaptations.

Home adaptations also help reduce falls, speed up hospital discharges, and ease pressure on the NHS.

Minister for Social Security and Disability, Sir Stephen Timms, said..

"Thousands of disabled people will have their lives transformed thanks to the changes they’ll be able to make to their homes. 

"This additional funding for the Disabled Facilities Grantis part of our commitment to break down barriers at home, at work, and across our public services for disabled people.  

“From ministerial leads for disability in every department to investing £1bn a year in employment support by the end of the decade, disabled people are being given opportunities they have too often missed out on in the past.” 

Littlefatfriend

That's very good news CS.

A point which isn't discussed often enough in my opinion is that the privatisation of housing provision in this country by our first female PM (whose name must not be mentioned!) and related huge increases in the value of property have resulted in our sorely lacking adapted accommodation for our ageing and progressively more disabled population.

Private landlords only have disincentive to adapt accommodation as it'll likely reduce the range/number of people the accommodation will appeal to and they won't be allowed to charge more for it.

Gordon Brown (after Bliar had quit) introduced a public/private scheme to adapt and maintain properties which I took advantage of 15-16 years ago. It was a great help to me.

I chose the bungalow from the open market and paid 75% of the price (as I remember the maximum price I could choose was £120,000). My co-investor is a large supported housing company who own lots of care homes and employ their own full-time handymen/electricians/plumbers/gardeners etc. That scheme was a work of art and in the 14 years or so since it was stopped the lack of investment in adapting accommodation has returned.

Ramps were added by my co-investor to the front and back doors, the kitchen was all lowered etc, carpets replaced with laminate, new boiler/white goods, bath removed and turned into a shower room, they even replaced the double glazing, renewed the cavity wall/loft insulation, and decorated, all at no cost to me and exactly what I asked for. I pay them an affordably small rent which covers all my maintenance needs, and in 10 years time (after 25 in all) their 25% stake in the house will transfer to me.

As they will the Tories stopped it as soon as they got back in so I think the scheme only ran for a couple of years or so. I'm surprised I can't remember what the scheme was called. I'll add that if it occurs to me. They couldn't/can't change the contracts they set up with other people and I and the various companies involved, so my maintenance is guaranteed for as long as I live here.

Improvements to work environments are great news too.

I'm pleased to see positive things beginning to be announced. The wheels of politics and investment doth turn mighty slow... Here's hoping for the future!

🤞

JessieJ

As the final thing on the list of adaptations that I've just had done, is fitted tomorrow via the DFG, all life changing & bettering, I'm really pleased to read that the funding is rising. So many more can be added to the list & enjoy a safer, more independent home life.

Wibbles

The problem is that this funding is obviously going to be means tested - but at what level of savings ?

And £50m divided by 5000 applicants is only £10k per applicant - whilst this may sound a lot - it won't pay anything like the full cost of a properly constructed wet room or similar - again leaving the disabled individual with a financial problem.