Every guide to the Disabled Facilities Grant tells you the same thing: up to £30,000 in England, £36,000 in Wales, £35,000 in Northern Ireland, a different scheme in Scotland. What none of them tells you is what happens when the work costs more, because the answer is set council by council, in housing assistance policies that are published as committee PDFs and almost never appear on the page where you would look.
We read those policies for the 42 cities this site covers. The short version: the £30,000 “maximum” is not the maximum in most large English cities. Twenty of the English councils below have a route above it. The ceiling runs from an extra £10,000 in Newcastle to £100,000 in total in Southampton and the Bournemouth area, and the terms attached to that extra money differ so much that two identical households, in different postcodes, face completely different decisions.
The one-line summary. Below £30,000 a DFG is usually a grant you keep. Above £30,000 it is often secured lending wearing a grant’s clothes: most councils register a land charge for the top-up, and several make the whole extra amount repayable when the house is sold, with no time limit. The repayment column matters as much as the headline figure.
The four nations in one line
| Nation | Mandatory maximum | Who runs it |
|---|---|---|
| England | £30,000 | Your local housing authority (city, borough or district council). Councils may top this up under the Regulatory Reform Order 2002, which is what the table below records. |
| Wales | £36,000 | Your local council (WSI 2008/2370). |
| Scotland | No DFG. Grant of at least 80% of approved adaptation costs, 100% on qualifying benefits | Your local council, under the Scheme of Assistance (Housing (Scotland) Act 2006). |
| Northern Ireland | £35,000, up to £70,000 for specified works | The Housing Executive (NIHE), one national scheme. Note GOV.UK still shows the superseded £25,000; the figure was raised on 1 February 2023, see our Northern Ireland guide. |
England: what each city adds on top of £30,000
Each row records what the council’s own policy says about money above the £30,000 mandatory limit, and what you might have to pay back. “Standard land charge” means the statutory pattern nearly every council uses for the mandatory grant itself: if the grant is over £5,000 a charge is registered on the property, capped at £10,000, repayable only if you sell within 10 years.
| City | Top-up above £30,000 | What you may repay | Policy and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | Uncapped, subject to the occupational therapist’s assessment | Land charge on extensions costing over £10,000 | Staying Independent at Home Policy, no date printed, read Aug 2026 |
| Bournemouth (BCP) | Tiered: routine awards to £40,000; a funding panel can agree up to £100,000; above that, Director approval | Standard land charge on the mandatory grant; the full amount above £30,000 charged for 10 years | DFG Policy v1.2, January 2022 |
| Bradford | None published | Standard land charge | Council DFG pages, no date printed, read Aug 2026 |
| Brighton & Hove | A further £30,000, case by case, so up to £60,000 in total; the council can also pay up to £5,000 toward your assessed contribution | None stated in the published policy | DFG Housing Policy 2022-2025 |
| Bristol | Discretionary Adaptation Assistance with no published figure, “depending on the type of work and your personal circumstances”; separately, Disabled Facilities Loans up to £20,000 at 0% fixed interest through Lendology | Loans repaid over 1 to 15 years depending on affordability | Council adaptations pages, read Aug 2026; the underlying Accessible Homes Policy was approved April 2026 |
| Cambridge | Up to £30,000, normally as a loan, so up to £60,000 in total. Cambridge City pays the grant; Cambridgeshire County provides the OT assessment | Mandatory grant over £10,000: charge of £500 to £10,000, 10 years. Top-up: repayable in full whenever the property changes hands | Adaptations, Repairs & Renewals Policy 2025-2030, effective April 2025 |
| Coventry | Up to £10,000 at officer level; an approval panel can agree up to £30,000 (April 2025 revision) | Standard land charge, plus a charge on the discretionary element repayable in full if sold within 10 years | Housing Assistance Policy report, April 2025 |
| Derby | Normally a loan of up to £10,000; a review group can approve up to £20,000 | Indefinite land charge on the assistance, recovered when the property is sold | Private Housing Renewal Policy 2021-2030, March 2021 |
| Durham | Not published; the policy is available by email request only | Not published | Private Sector Housing Financial Assistance Policy, unpublished, confirmed Aug 2026 |
| Exeter | Accessible Homes Grant top-up, subject to available funds, no figure published. Exeter City pays; Devon County assesses | Grants may be repayable if sold within 10 years | Council DFG pages, read Aug 2026 |
| Hull | Not readable: the policy sits on a committee system that rejects automated readers | Not readable | Private Housing Assistance Policy 2023-2026, located but unread |
| Ipswich | Up to £15,000, so £45,000 in total, depending on need and available funds; no repeat applications. Ipswich Borough pays; Suffolk County assesses | Standard land charge; the discretionary element also charged and partly repayable if sold within 10 years | Housing Assistance Policy, reviewed 2025 |
| Leeds | Case by case, and the council’s stated route above £30,000 is an equity release loan rather than a grant | The loan is registered as a land charge and recovered when the property is sold, with exemptions judged case by case | Private Sector Housing Assistance Policy, no date printed, read Aug 2026 |
| Leicester | Nothing published beyond the £30,000 maximum; no policy document locatable | Not published | Council DFG page, read Aug 2026 |
| Liverpool | Policy exists (DFG Policy 2023) but its PDF is not served to readers like ours | Not readable | Council DFG page, read Aug 2026 |
| London | Varies by borough: each of the 32 boroughs is its own housing authority with its own policy | Varies by borough | MHCLG delivery guidance, 2022 |
| Luton | Narrow: up to £10,000, only where a charge cannot be placed on the property and the applicant is on a passported benefit | Standard land charge; early repayment allowed without penalty | Private Sector Housing Assistance Policy v23, December 2023 |
| Manchester | No top-up as such; separate Home Improvement Assistance grants capped at £7,000, plus loans | Land charge only where the adaptation added floor space or value, cost over £5,000, 10 years | Home Improvement and Relocation Assistance Policy 2024, 11th edition, amended 13 May 2025 |
| Middlesbrough | Nothing locatable: no figures and no policy document found | Not published | Searched Aug 2026, nothing located |
| Milton Keynes | None published | Grants over £5,000 may be repayable if you sell or move within 10 years | Council DFG page, no date printed, read Aug 2026 |
| Newcastle | Up to £10,000, plus more in exceptional circumstances case by case | A repayment condition may be registered as a land charge, payable on sale, at the council’s discretion | Housing Assistance Policy, July 2024 |
| Northampton (West Northants) | Up to £25,000, so £55,000 in total, where moving home has been explored first; a separate armed forces grant of up to £30,000 carries no means test | Standard land charge on the mandatory grant; the top-up repayable in full if sold within 10 years | Housing Adaptations Policy, April 2026 |
| Norwich | An interest-free top-up loan with no upper limit, for owner-occupiers. Norwich City pays; Norfolk County assesses | The whole loan, via a legal charge, when the property is sold or transferred, stops being your main home, or sits empty over six months | Financial Assistance Policy for Independent Living v1.2, October 2025 |
| Nottingham | Up to £20,000, so £50,000 in total, with the first £10,000 of your assessed contribution disregarded; exceptional cases above by officer decision; plus a relocation grant and up to £10,000 for pre-adaptation repairs | Charge capped at £10,000 over 10 years on the combined grant; exceptional and relocation help carries an indefinite charge repayable in full | DFG Policy, adopted July 2026 |
| Oxford | Up to £30,000, so £60,000 in total, if your assessed contribution is £30,000 or less; subject to funds. Oxford City pays; Oxfordshire County assesses | The full top-up as a land charge, repayable in full whenever the property is sold or transferred | Housing Assistance and Disabled Adaptations Policy, effective February 2025 |
| Plymouth | Case by case, no figure published; moving to a more suitable property is considered alongside | Standard land charge | Independent Living Policy, July 2025 version, read Aug 2026 |
| Portsmouth | The 2021 policy says a £10,000 top-up, to £40,000, with loans above; the council’s current web page says the maximum is £50,000. Both are the council’s own statements | Standard land charge | Financial Assistance Policy, December 2021, and council means-test page, read Aug 2026 |
| Reading | Up to £30,000, and in exceptional two-applicant households up to £90,000 per property | Standard land charge on the mandatory grant; the top-up charged and reclaimed whenever the property is sold, with no time limit | Private Sector Renewal and Disabled Adaptations Policy, reviewed April 2021 |
| Sheffield | A hard £20,000, so £50,000 in total; the top-up is means-tested even for disabled children | 10-year land charge on the mandatory grant, and a charge for the full value of the top-up for 10 years, with hardship relief considered | Private Sector Housing Assistance Policy, amended January 2025 |
| Southampton | Up to £100,000 in total, exceptional cases only, through an adaptations panel with Director sign-off | Standard land charge on the first £30,000; a charge equal to the whole top-up above it, surviving for 10 years | Discretionary Disabled Adaptations Financial Assistance Policy, January 2026 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | None above £30,000: even the discretionary grants are capped at the same ceiling | No repayment conditions on grant assistance | Housing Renewal Assistance Policy 2021-2026 |
| Sunderland | £8,000, plus a further £7,000 for complex cases, so up to £15,000 above the limit | A charge only where the grant added rooms, capped at £10,000, 10 years | Housing Financial Assistance Policy 2023-26, June 2023 |
| Wolverhampton | The policy itself prints no top-up, but a July 2025 council decision describes up to £20,000 available under it, with more considered case by case. Both statements are the council’s own | Standard land charge on the mandatory grant; the full top-up charged and repayable on sale at any time | Housing Assistance Policy 2024, and decision report, July 2025 |
| York | No top-up grant: a Discretionary Adaptation Loan instead, normally up to £15,000 | Standard land charge on the grant; the loan secured separately and repayable on disposal | Private Sector Assistance Policy, effective July 2017, past its printed review date |
England rows read 28 to 31 August 2026. Two-tier note: in Cambridge, Exeter, Ipswich, Norwich and Oxford the city council pays the grant while the county council provides the occupational therapist assessment, so applications involve both.
Wales
| City | Above or around the £36,000 maximum | What you may repay | Policy and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cardiff | £36,000 less your assessed contribution; the means test looks at income and savings over £6,000, and is waived for families with a disabled child under 19 | None stated on the council’s pages | Council DFG page, read Aug 2026 |
| Newport | No top-up published; no means test for disabled children under 16 or dependent young people under 20; a separate Enable scheme funds small adaptations up to £1,000 | Standard land charge: the part over £5,000, capped at £10,000, if sold within 10 years, with hardship waivers | Council DFG pages, no date printed, read Aug 2026 |
| Swansea | A discretionary top-up loan of up to £10,000 for owner-occupiers where costs exceed £36,000. And the row that matters here: stairlifts are classed as a medium adaptation and funded through a fast-track grant with no means test | Standard land charge on the DFG; the top-up loan charged and repayable on sale or transfer | Housing Renewal and Disabled Adaptations Policy 2022-27 |
Wales rows read 28 to 31 August 2026.
Scotland: a different system entirely
There is no Disabled Facilities Grant in Scotland. Councils fund adaptations under the Scheme of Assistance: a mandatory grant of at least 80% of approved costs, rising to 100% where the applicant receives a qualifying benefit such as the guarantee element of Pension Credit. Each council publishes its own Statement of Assistance, and they are old documents: the three below date from 2012 to 2017 and are still the current published versions.
| City | Grant rules | Stairlift-specific | Statement and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen | 80% of approved costs, 100% on passported benefits | Internal stairlifts named as eligible for discretionary grant where amenities are on another floor | Scheme of Assistance, amended August 2012 |
| Dundee | 80% of approved costs, 100% on passported benefits | Straight and curved stairlifts eligible for discretionary 80% grant, subject to funding. The council states it does not provide external stairlifts | Section 72 Statement, August 2017 |
| Edinburgh | 80% of approved costs, 100% on passported benefits; the council’s stated emphasis is advice and information over money | Nothing stairlift-specific published in the statement | Scheme of Assistance Statement, August 2016 |
| Glasgow | Mandatory 80% irrespective of income, 100% on qualifying benefits including Universal Credit | A stairlift assessed as critical risk is delivered through the Equipu service at no cost to the applicant | Private Housing Statement of Assistance, March 2025 |
Scotland rows read 28 to 31 August 2026. Note the ages: Glasgow’s statement is from March 2025, but Aberdeen’s dates from 2012, Edinburgh’s from 2016 and Dundee’s from 2017, and each remains the current published version.
Northern Ireland
| City | Maximum | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast | £35,000, and up to £70,000 where the works are of a kind specified in Article 54(1) of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 | One national scheme run by the Housing Executive, so there is no Belfast-specific figure to publish. The £35,000 dates from 1 February 2023; GOV.UK still shows the superseded £25,000 | Grant Limit Order 2003, Article 2, revised, read 31 Aug 2026; full detail in our Northern Ireland guide |
How to read the top-up shapes
The extra money comes in four shapes, and the shape tells you how hard it will be to get and what it will cost you later.
A hard figure (Sheffield’s £20,000, Nottingham’s £20,000, Cambridge and Oxford’s £30,000, Ipswich’s £15,000, West Northamptonshire’s £25,000, Sunderland’s £8,000 plus £7,000 for complex cases) is the easiest to plan around: the policy commits to a number, usually behind a panel decision.
Uncapped subject to assessment (Birmingham) sounds generous and can be, but everything rests on the occupational therapist’s assessment and the council’s budget in that year.
Case by case with no figure (Leeds, Bristol, Plymouth, Brighton’s panel route above its stated band) means the policy names a route but promises nothing. Treat it as a possibility, never a plan.
A loan rather than a grant (York’s £15,000 adaptation loan, Derby’s assistance “normally in the form of a loan”, Norwich’s interest-free top-up loan with no upper limit, Leeds above £30,000) is real help with a real string: it is secured on the house and repaid from the sale, sometimes with no time limit. Norwich is the most striking row in the table for exactly this reason: unlimited money, all of it repayable when the house changes hands.
The stairlift-specific standout is Swansea. Its policy classes stairlifts as a “medium adaptation” and funds them through a fast-track grant with no means test, up to the Welsh maximum. Glasgow reaches a similar place by a different route: a stairlift assessed as critical need is delivered free through Equipu rather than through the normal 80% grant. If you live in either city, ask about these routes by name.
The cities we could not verify, and why we say so
Four councils’ policies could not be read, and rather than quietly fill those rows from a third-party site, we record the gap. Hull has a Private Housing Assistance Policy 2023-2026 on its committee system, which rejects automated readers; its public pages confirm only the £30,000 maximum. Durham publishes its policy by email request only. Liverpool links a Disabled Facilities Grant Policy 2023 whose PDF its site does not serve to readers like ours. Middlesbrough and Leicester publish no figures beyond the national maximum and no locatable policy. If you live in one of these cities, the policy exists, and the council will send it to you: ask for the “housing assistance policy” by name.
How we compiled this
The method matters because the figures are effectively hidden. A council’s DFG landing page almost never carries its top-up figure; the number lives in a Housing Assistance Policy or equivalent, usually a PDF on the council’s committee-papers subdomain. For each city we searched for that policy directly, read it, and recorded the top-up shape, the figure, the repayment terms, the document’s name and its printed date. Where a document prints no date, the row is stamped with the date we read it instead, because a date stamp is a claim, and it has to trace to something. Rows marked “read Aug 2026” without a policy date mean exactly that.
Two rows carry a discrepancy on purpose. Portsmouth’s published 2021 policy says the maximum with top-up is £40,000, while the council’s current means-test web page says £50,000; both statements are the council’s own, so we show both. Wolverhampton’s policy PDF contains no top-up provision, while a July 2025 council decision report describes “a discretionary grant of up to £20,000” made available under that same policy; again, both are shown. Where a council contradicts itself, you deserve to see it.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get more than £30,000 from a Disabled Facilities Grant in England?
Often, yes, but it depends entirely on your council. Twenty of the 34 English city councils in our table publish a route above £30,000, ranging from £10,000 extra in Newcastle to £100,000 in total in Southampton and the Bournemouth area. Some others will consider it case by case without promising anything, and a few, such as Stoke-on-Trent, cap everything at £30,000.
Do I have to pay a DFG back?
Usually only in one situation: most councils register a charge on the property where a grant exceeds £5,000, capped at £10,000, and it bites only if you sell within 10 years. Top-ups are stricter: several councils make the whole extra amount repayable when the house is sold, and in Norwich, Oxford and Derby that condition has no time limit. A stairlift alone rarely reaches the £5,000 threshold, so for most stairlift-only grants nothing is repayable.
Where does a stairlift get funded fastest?
Of the cities in our table, Swansea funds stairlifts through a fast-track grant with no means test, and Glasgow delivers critical-need stairlifts free through its Equipu service. Everywhere else the stairlift goes through the normal grant route, which starts with an occupational therapist assessment, so the timeline matters more than the money for most families.
Sources
Every table row links its policy document directly. National frameworks: Regulatory Reform (Housing Assistance) Order 2002; Disabled Facilities Grants (Maximum Amounts) (Wales) Order 2008; Grant Limit Order (Northern Ireland) 2003, Article 2 as amended; MHCLG DFG delivery guidance (2022).
Related guides
- Stairlift grants UK: the full guide
- Who qualifies for a Disabled Facilities Grant
- How long a DFG application takes
- Northern Ireland: the £35,000 maximum GOV.UK still gets wrong
- Scotland’s Scheme of Assistance explained
- What to do when the grant falls short
- Every published UK stairlift price, with sources
- DFG funding by council 2026-27: what your council has to spend