Housing Adaptation Grant for Disabled People

Who is this grant for?

This grant is for people with a physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual disability. It is for big changes you need to make to your home.

What type of home is this grant for?

Your home can qualify for this grant if it is any of the following:

• privately owned (you or your family own it)
• rented from a landlord with a current tenancy agreement registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and you have the landlord’s permission to make the changes
• provided by an Approved Housing Body (a list of these can be found at www.ahbregulator.ie)
• a communal residence – accommodation where people live together in group homes with support

What can I use this grant for?

You can use this grant to improve access in your home like adding:

• a ramp or other ways to access your home
• grab rails
• bathroom facilities like an accessible shower or a downstairs toilet
• a stair lift or through floor lift
• fixed track hoists (excluding any servicing, maintenance and training costs)
• space for wheelchair access
• an extension (typically for a bedroom and/or bathroom to accommodate a disabled person).

Occupational therapist assessment

An occupational therapist (OT) will need to assess you if you are applying for any of the following:

• a big change to the use of a room in your home
• a stair lift or through floor lift
• a fixed track hoist
• an extension

This is to make sure the right work is done in the home to suit your needs.

You can get this assessment report from a private occupational therapist. If your grant application is successful, your local authority will pay you up to €300 towards the cost of this assessment as part of the grant.

If you have not been assessed by an occupational therapist, your local authority can arrange an assessment for you after your application is received.

How much is the grant for?

It depends. The grant covers some of the cost of the work needed, but not all of it. The amount of money you get depends on your household income for the previous tax year (or the current tax year in some special cases see below *). There are some disregards and deductions that can reduce the amount of household income that your local authority takes into account. We explain this further in Important Information about Income.

The most you can get is €40,000 or 100% of the total cost of the work approved by your local authority (whichever is less).

* Special cases apply if the person who the works are for is also the owner (or their spouse) and:

• They have had a sudden and big change in income because of illness, injury or disability, and
• Their income will be reduced for a long time.

You will need to contact your local authority if you think this applies. They will tell you what proof of your household income they will need for the current tax year.

Note: A grant is not available if the household income is more than €75,000, after the disregards and deductions are applied.

If the owner (and their spouse) of the home earn €75,000 or less, after the disregards and deductions are applied, the table below shows information on how much of a grant you can get.

What this grant does not cover?

It does not cover the VAT cost of the work. You may be able to reclaim (get back) some of the VAT from Revenue after you have paid for the work (see revenue.ie for more information)

Example

If your household income for the previous tax year is €45,000 after the disregards and deductions are applied, and your home was built more than a year ago, your grant is 75% of the costs of the work to a limit of €30,000. This means that if the work on the home costs €32,000 excluding VAT, the grant will only cover €24,000 and not €30,000. You may be able to reclaim (get back) some of the VAT of €4,320 (13.5% of €32,000) from Revenue.

Special requirements for this grant

To help us to assess your application we ask that you provide a written quotation and some photographs of the area or room where you hope to carry out works.

Documentation required

Please be sure to include the following documentation in the application. We regret that we must return all incomplete applications. 

• Evidence of household income from all sources
• A written itemised quotation will help us to process your application
• Evidence of compliance with local property tax

Apply online

Applying online will give you access to the status of your application as it goes through our approval process.

Apply for Housing Adaptation Grant for Disabled People