You can apply for this grant when a mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant does not cover the full cost of home adaptations.
There is no limit to how much grant may be awarded. However, it will be subject to the availability of resources and other criteria.
Eligibility
Applicants must meet the eligibility conditions for the mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG).
The following conditions must also be met:
- the household is considered to be in financial hardship and cannot afford to fund the works
- all other means of funding, such as charities and loans, have been explored unsuccessfully
- works fit within the boundaries established for the mandatory DFG (for example, we cannot cover the cost of the applicant’s own, preferred or enhanced schemes)
You will need to show that you have tried to secure the funding by alternative means. This could be from sources such as a bank loan or charitable funding.
Conditions
For owner-occupiers, the grant will be registered, in full, as a local land charge against your property. The grant will be recovered on the sale or transfer of your property, subject to rules regarding exempt sales.
This is separate to the £10,000 which is recoverable as a condition of mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant.
The applicant must be a permanent resident of Bracknell Forest and the property must be their permanent address.
There are other conditions attached to this grant which may restrict the future use and ownership of the property. These can be viewed in the Housing Assistance Policy 2021 to 2026.
If the applicant is a tenant, we will liaise with the appropriate landlord to explore alternative options before approving the grant. This could include funding from the landlord or moving to alternative suitable accommodation.
You can only apply for this grant when it has been confirmed that the cost of works will exceed the maximum mandatory grant of £30,000.
Where an applicant is pursuing a ‘preferred’ scheme and has received the maximum eligible mandatory DFG funding, applications for this grant will not be considered.
A maximum of one application for this grant will be considered in any 5 year period.
How to apply
You can apply for Discretionary Disabled Facilities Grant Top Up through the Disabled Facilities Grant Team.
Funding will be awarded on a case by case basis at the discretion of the council’s senior management.
If you want to make an application for this grant, email dfg@bracknell-forest.gov.uk to request an application form.