Contents 1
Applying for a DFG
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The amount of grant: test of resources
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2.1
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DFGs for disabled children
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DFG funding
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4
DFGs and local authority tenants
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5
Other assistance
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5.1 Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 (CSDP)
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5.2 The Regulatory Reform (Housing Assistance)(England and Wales) Order 2002 10 5.3 Home Improvement Agencies (HIAs)
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5.4 Registers of accessible housing
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6
The Labour Government’s interdepartmental review of DFGs
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7
Building Research Establishment findings (2011)
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8
White Paper 2012: Caring for our future
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1
Applying for a DFG
Mandatory DFGs are available from local authorities in England and Wales and the Housing Executive in Northern Ireland, subject to a means test, for essential adaptations to give disabled people better freedom of movement into and around their homes and to give access to essential facilities within the home. 1 The legislation governing DFGs in England and Wales is the 1996 Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act. 2 Discretionary DFGs were abolished with effect from July 2003. 3 The types of work that mandatory DFGs can cover includes: • •
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making it easier to get into and out of the dwelling by, for example, widening doors and installing ramps; ensuring the safety of the disabled person and other occupants by, for example, providing a specially adapted room in which it would be safe to leave a disabled person unattended or improved lighting to ensure better visibility; making access easier to the living room;
Scotland operates a different grant system to that in England and Wales. Although grant assistance may be available for disabled adaptations it is not issued in the form of a DFG. The powers of the Secretary of State contained within the 1996 Act, so far as they are exercisable in relation to Wales, were transferred to the National Assembly for Wales by the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 1999 (S.I. No. 1999/672) and have been transferred to Welsh Ministers by virtue of section 162 and paragraph 30 of Schedule 11 to the Government of Wales Act 2006. The Regulatory Reform (Housing Assistance) (England & Wales) Order 2002
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