Ministers must commit to uprating grants available to disabled people or many will miss out on vital adaptations, warns the NRLA.

The BBC reports that the government is no longer committed to increasing the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) which is used to cover the costs of adaptations to help disabled people live independently.

The maximum amount someone can claim is £30,000 which has been capped since 2008, meaning it has failed to keep up with inflation. Despite promising to consult on increasing this, the government has failed to do so.

More than 1.2 million households in the PRS in England have someone living in them with a disability or long-term illness. Previous research by the NRLA found that, where landlords are aware of the DFG, they are far more likely to make adaptations to properties that disabled tenants need.  

Difficult

However, the NRLA warns that unless the cap on the amount available is increased, it will become increasingly difficult to fund these.

Chief executive Ben Beadle says: “Every disabled person deserves a home that meets their needs and enables them to live as independently as possible. To do so however requires adequate funding.

“Unless it fully reviews the cap on the Disabled Facilities Grant to better reflect growing costs, the government will make it impossible for many to afford the adaptations they desperately need.”

Disability rights groups have previously told the government that existing housing stock across England is often not accessible or adapted to meet disabled people’s needs, while there is no requirement for landlords to provide basic accessibility information.

Only 6% of the Disabled Facilities Grants available to adapt properties to make them more accessible go to private renters.