Home and Housing
Getting help with home improvements
Summary
A local authority can offer different types of help with home improvements. It will have its own rules about the types of help it will offer, and about the conditions you must meet in order to qualify for help. By law, these rules must not discriminate against you because of your age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. In addition, a local authority might have policies which don't allow other types of discrimination such as discrimination against older people. To find out if you can get help with home improvements and the help available in your area, contact your local authority. Your local authority can help you do one of the following: * adapt, improve, or repair your home. This could be in the form of a grant or loan. It could be by providing labour, tools, or cheap materials to help you carry out the work. It could be by providing details of builders who can carry out the work, or by providing free or low cost surveys, or advice on carrying out repairs * buy a new home if it decides that this would be a better way of improving your living conditions than carrying out work on your current home. The help.
Key information
- adapt, improve, or repair your home. This could be in the form of a grant or loan. It could be by providing labour, tools, or cheap materials to help you carry out the work. It could be by providing details of builders who can carry out the work, or by providing free or low cost surveys, or advice on carrying out repairs
- buy a new home if it decides that this would be a better way of improving your living conditions than carrying out work on your current home. The help could be in the form of a grant or loan
- buy a new home, if it has decided to buy your current home. The help could be in the form of a grant or loan
- demolish your home, or build a new home for you, if your previous home has been demolished. The help could be in the form of a grant or loan
- make sure that a copy of its rules, including the types of help it provides, are available for you to look at, free of charge, at its main office. It must also make sure that you can get a summary of the rules by post, although it might charge you for this
- make sure it follows its own rules when you ask for help
- give you written information about terms and conditions under which it will help you before it helps you
- make sure you have had the right advice and information about any responsibilities you'll have if it helps you. For example, if you'll have to pay for some of the repairs yourself, your local authority must make sure you have had advice and information about this
- take into account your ability to pay towards any help it offers you, before you have to pay anything. For example, it shouldn't offer you a loan if you can't afford to repay it, or if it offers you a grant but expects you to pay money towards it, it must take into account your ability to do so
- get your consent before carrying out any works on your home, if you're a home-owner
- get the consent of everyone who is likely to be affected, if it decides to change work it has agreed to help with. For example, it would need to do this if it agrees to install gas central heating, but then wants to change this to electric central heating instead
- get your consent before it changes any of the conditions you must meet in order to get help. For example, if it offers you a grant on the condition that you pay £500 towards the cost of repairs, but it wants to increase this amount to £1000, it has to get your consent first
Practical guidance
Related topics
More in this area
Sources
- Citizens Advice — Getting help with home improvements
This is signposting information from the Legal Shaman wiki, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified solicitor for your situation.