Scheme: Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG)
Maximum grant in England: £30,000 (mandatory ceiling under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996). Your council can choose to top this up.
Who runs it: your local council. Not the NHS, not the DWP.
Means-tested? Yes for adults. No for works benefitting a disabled child under 19.
Typical timeline: 4 to 12 months from first enquiry to fitted stairlift, and sometimes longer.
Is a DFG the right route for a stairlift?
The DFG is the main route for help with a stairlift in England if you own your home or rent privately. For a straightforward stairlift on a straight staircase, the works almost always fall well inside the £30,000 ceiling, so the practical question is not whether the grant is big enough, it is whether you pass the means test and how long your council takes.
If you live in council or housing-association property, you do not apply for a DFG. You ask your landlord to make the adaptation. Most will, because they have duties under the Equality Act 2010 and their own allocations policies. Tenant guide.
Who qualifies
There is no age limit. You can apply for yourself or on behalf of a disabled adult or child who lives with you. The three eligibility gates are:
- The person needs the adaptation. An occupational therapist (OT) from adult social care decides whether a stairlift is “necessary and appropriate” for the disabled person. The OT assessment is usually free.
- The works are “reasonable and practicable”. A council officer (sometimes a home improvement agency on behalf of the council) checks whether the stairlift can actually be fitted given the staircase and the property.
- The household passes the means test (adults only). The test looks at income, savings and certain outgoings of the disabled person and their partner. It does not look at adult children’s income, even if they live in the house.
Automatic pass on the means test
You skip the means test entirely if the disabled person or their partner receives any of:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Guarantee Pension Credit
- Universal Credit (where the award includes no earned income above the relevant threshold)
- Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction in some cases, depending on the local council
Children under 19 are not means-tested at all. If the works are for a disabled child, the household finances do not come into it.
Savings and the capital rules
Household capital (savings, investments, second properties) above £6,000 counts against you. Every £250 over £6,000 adds £1 per week of “tariff income” to the calculation. Capital over £16,000 usually means you will not get a grant at all, unless one of the auto-pass benefits applies.
How to apply, step by step
- Call your council’s adult social care team and ask for an occupational therapy assessment. You do not need a GP referral. You can also self-refer online with most councils.
- Have the OT assessment. The OT visits, looks at the staircase and the disabled person, and decides what adaptation is needed. For a stairlift they will usually specify straight versus curved and any access issues.
- Wait for the council to pass the case to housing or a home improvement agency. This is often where the wait happens. Two to six months is common. Some councils are faster, a few are much slower.
- Complete the means test. The council sends a form. You will need payslips, pension statements, benefit letters and savings statements for the disabled person and their partner. Help from Age UK, Citizens Advice or a home improvement agency is free and often speeds this up.
- Get quotes from approved installers. Most councils have a list. Using a non-listed installer is usually allowed, but you must get competitive quotes and the council approves the price.
- Sign the grant approval. The council sends a formal offer. Do not pay for any work or place any deposit before this letter is signed.
- Installation and sign-off. The installer fits the stairlift. The council inspects the work. The council pays the installer directly in most cases.
If the DFG does not work for you
The DFG is slow and the means test is tight. For many households one of these routes is faster or better value:
- A council top-up or discretionary grant. Many councils publish a local housing assistance policy that tops up the £30,000, relaxes the means test, or offers a smaller non-means-tested “minor adaptations” grant that covers most straight stairlifts. Ask.
- Charities and benevolent funds. Our charity funding guide lists the main national and service-specific charities. The Royal British Legion, SSAFA, Turn2us and many trade benevolent funds all fund stairlifts for people who fit their criteria.
- Reconditioned straight stairlifts. A good reconditioned straight stairlift now fits under £2,000 in many cases. Reconditioned guide.
- Rental. Useful for short-term needs (under 18 months) or while you wait for a DFG to be approved. Stairlift rental.
Rough check: could you qualify?
Use the quick indicator below before you spend half a day on the application. It is a guide, not a decision. The council makes the decision.
Stairlift grant indicator
A quick private check. Nothing leaves your browser. Your council or NIHE, not this site, makes the real decision.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Don’t pay for the stairlift before the grant is approved in writing. Councils will not retrospectively reimburse work that started before the grant offer letter is signed.
- Don’t assume a curved stairlift is out of scope. Curved rails typically come in around £4,000 to £8,000 and are well inside the DFG ceiling. A council cannot refuse on cost alone.
- Don’t wait for the council if you need a lift within weeks. Consider rental while the application is in progress and then switch to a purchased unit after the grant pays.
- Don’t forget to ask about warranty transfer. If the installer changes between the OT’s recommendation and the grant offer, the warranty position can shift.
Where to go for free help
- Your local council’s housing or adult social care team. All applications start here.
- Your local home improvement agency (HIA). Find yours via Foundations, the national body for HIAs in England. HIAs give free, impartial help with the application.
- Citizens Advice. Free help with the means-test paperwork.
- Age UK local branches. Free benefits checks and, in many areas, hands-on help filling in the DFG form.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Disabled Facilities Grants – canonical page with current amounts and eligibility.
- Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 – the primary legislation.
- Foundations – national body for home improvement agencies in England.