The NHS does not supply stairlifts and does not pay for them. There is no NHS stairlift scheme. Free and part-funded stairlifts come from your local council: a Disabled Facilities Grant if you own your home or rent privately, or a direct fit by the council if you are a council tenant. The NHS’s own guidance sends you to the council, and the assessment that starts the process is free.
What the NHS actually does
The NHS publishes guidance on home adaptations, and that guidance is about council services. Its home adaptations page says your local council “offers a service that assesses your home”, that “an occupational therapist will visit you at your home”, and that “having a home assessment is free”. Nowhere does it offer a stairlift from the NHS, because health budgets do not pay for one.
The occupational therapist is where the confusion starts. OTs work in both NHS teams and council social care teams, and the person who visits your home may introduce themselves as NHS staff. Their assessment is what unlocks council money. The lift itself is a housing adaptation, funded through housing budgets.
| Stage | Who does it | What it costs you |
|---|---|---|
| Assessing whether you need a lift | Council social care team, often using NHS occupational therapists | Nothing. The NHS states plainly that the home assessment is free |
| Deciding a lift is necessary and appropriate | The OT recommends, the council decides | Nothing |
| Approving the money | Council housing department. In Northern Ireland, the Housing Executive | Nothing to apply |
| Paying for the lift | Disabled Facilities Grant, the council’s own housing budget, or you | Depends on the means test |
| Fitting, servicing and repairs afterwards | The installer the council uses, or one you choose | Servicing is usually yours once any warranty ends |
Last verified: 7 September 2026 against the NHS home adaptations guide (reviewed 12 December 2025) and GOV.UK Disabled Facilities Grants.
So can you get a stairlift for free?
Yes, in four situations. None of them involves the NHS.
1. The means test gives you a nil contribution
A Disabled Facilities Grant is means-tested for adults. GOV.UK says how much you get depends on your household income and household savings over £6,000. Where the test produces a nil contribution, the grant covers the approved work in full, up to the limit for your nation. See who qualifies for a stairlift grant.
2. The lift is for a disabled child
GOV.UK is explicit: disabled children under 18 can get a grant without their parents’ income being taken into account. Northern Ireland runs its own version of this exemption through the Housing Executive.
3. You rent from the council
Council tenants are often adapted by their landlord instead of through a grant application. Ealing Council states that adaptations are free for council tenants. East Riding of Yorkshire says minor adaptations are carried out at no cost to disabled tenants and lists stairlifts as a major adaptation it handles. Nottingham City Council’s occupational therapy team arranges stairlifts directly, and adaptations for its own housing tenants are currently free. Policies differ by council, so ask your housing office before you apply for anything. More detail in our guide to grants for tenants and council housing.
4. You live in Scotland and claim a qualifying benefit
Scotland has no Disabled Facilities Grant. Under the Scheme of Assistance regulations, the mandatory grant is at least 80 per cent of the approved cost, and 100 per cent for people on Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, guarantee credit or income-related Employment and Support Allowance. Citizens Advice Scotland also notes that a council must not apply a fixed upper limit to the cost of the work. See stairlift funding in Scotland.
The grant limits, and the one figure to ignore
| Nation | Maximum | Source |
|---|---|---|
| England | £30,000 | GOV.UK, and the 2008 Order that sets it in law |
| Wales | £36,000 | GOV.UK, and the 2008 Welsh Order |
| Northern Ireland | £35,000, with Housing Executive discretion up to £70,000 | nidirect and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive |
| Scotland | No DFG. Mandatory grant of at least 80 per cent, no fixed cost ceiling | Scheme of Assistance Regulations 2008, regulation 4 |
The Northern Ireland figure is worth pausing on. GOV.UK’s own grant page says £25,000 for Northern Ireland. Both bodies that actually administer the grant, nidirect and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, say £35,000, and the House of Commons Library briefing last modified on 8 July 2026 also says £35,000. We checked all four on 7 September 2026. Use £35,000 and, if a website quotes you £25,000, that is where it came from.
Last verified: 7 September 2026. Sources listed at the end of this page.
The £1,000 rule, and why it will not buy you a stairlift
Councils in England have a duty to provide minor adaptations free of charge where the cost is £1,000 or less. That comes from the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, which define a minor adaptation as one costing £1,000 or less, and the government’s own Disabled Facilities Grant delivery guidance repeats it.
People read that and expect a free stairlift. The rule pays for grab rails, a small ramp, sensor lights and similar work. A fitted stairlift starts at about £1,500 even for a straight staircase, so it sits outside the £1,000 duty and goes down the grant route instead. See what stairlifts actually cost.
One part of the same guidance is more useful than the £1,000 line: the Care Act duty covers other equipment to any value. That is the hook some councils use to supply a lift directly, which is why council tenants and people known to social care sometimes get one without a grant application at all.
Two rules that catch people out
Do not start the work first
Section 29 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 bars a council from approving a grant where the work has already begun, and bars it outright once the work is finished. There is one narrow exception, for work begun but not completed, where the council accepts there were good reasons to start. GOV.UK’s grant pages do not spell this out. The Act does.
In practice: get the assessment, get the approval in writing, then let anyone near your staircase. If a salesperson tells you to install now and claim later, they are describing something the law does not allow.
The council has six months to answer
Section 34 of the same Act requires the council to notify you whether your application is approved or refused as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any event within six months of the application. Six months is the outer limit, not the target, and the clock starts at a valid application, not at your first phone call.
What to do while you wait
Six months is a long time on a staircase you cannot climb. Three options are worth pricing before you settle in to wait:
- Rent a lift for the gap. Published rental rates start at a few hundred pounds up front and £25 to £50 a week or month. See renting while you wait for a grant.
- Claim VAT relief. A stairlift is zero-rated for someone with a chronic condition or disability, which takes 20 per cent off immediately and needs no council involvement. See VAT exemption on stairlifts.
- Ask a charity. Several UK charities part-fund lifts, and some will cover a shortfall the grant leaves behind. See charities that help with stairlifts and what to do about a grant shortfall.
Local limits can be higher than the national one
The national maximum is a floor for what a council may pay, not a ceiling on what it may add. Nottingham City Council consulted in May 2026 on raising its maximum grant from £30,000 to £50,000, and announced the increase on 22 July 2026, along with disregarding the first £10,000 of an assessed contribution. Stairlifts are among the adaptations named.
Two caveats. This is a discretionary local policy, so the statutory England maximum is still £30,000 everywhere. And our source is the council’s own news channel, since the underlying committee paper is not publicly fetchable. Ask your own council what its current policy is, because these top-ups are decided locally and rarely make the news.
- Stairlift grants UK: funding by nation
- How to apply for a Disabled Facilities Grant
- What happens at an occupational therapist assessment
- How long a stairlift grant takes
- Every way to fund a stairlift in the UK
Frequently asked questions
Can you get a stairlift on the NHS?
No. The NHS does not supply or fund stairlifts, and there is no NHS stairlift scheme. The NHS’s own home adaptations guidance points you to your local council, which runs the assessment and holds the budget. The assessment itself is free.
Who is eligible for a free stairlift?
Four groups, in practice: people whose Disabled Facilities Grant means test produces a nil contribution, disabled children under 18 whose parents’ income is not counted, council tenants whose landlord fits adaptations free, and people in Scotland on Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, guarantee credit or income-related Employment and Support Allowance, who get 100 per cent of the approved cost.
How much is the Disabled Facilities Grant in 2026?
Up to £30,000 in England, £36,000 in Wales and £35,000 in Northern Ireland, where the Housing Executive can go to £70,000 in some cases. Scotland has no DFG and instead funds at least 80 per cent of the approved cost, with no fixed upper limit. GOV.UK still shows £25,000 for Northern Ireland, which the Northern Ireland sources contradict.
Sometimes, and more often than people expect. Councils have a duty to provide minor adaptations costing £1,000 or less free of charge, and the same guidance covers other equipment to any value. Several councils, including Ealing, East Riding of Yorkshire and Nottingham, fit stairlifts directly for their own tenants without a grant application.
Can I get the grant after the stairlift is installed?
No. Section 29 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 stops a council approving a grant once the work has been completed. Apply and get written approval before any work starts.
How long does a stairlift grant take?
The council must tell you whether your application is approved or refused within six months of the application, under section 34 of the same Act. That is the legal backstop, not a typical wait, and the six months runs from a valid application, not from your first enquiry.
Sources
- NHS, Home adaptations, last reviewed 12 December 2025.
- GOV.UK, Disabled Facilities Grants: what you’ll get, and the eligibility and overview pages.
- nidirect, Disabled Facilities Grants, modified 17 October 2024, and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive grant page.
- House of Commons Library, Disabled Facilities Grants briefing, last modified 8 July 2026.
- legislation.gov.uk: HGCRA 1996 s.29, s.34, Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014 reg 3, Scheme of Assistance Regulations 2008 reg 4.
- MHCLG and DHSC, Disabled Facilities Grant delivery guidance, published 28 March 2022.
- Citizens Advice Scotland, Housing grants and loans.
- Council adaptation policies: Ealing, East Riding of Yorkshire, Nottingham.
- Nottingham City Council news, new Disabled Facilities Grant policy, 22 July 2026.
Every source above was opened and checked on 7 September 2026.
