Home adaptations for EB in the UK
There are several different home adaptations and mobility aids depending on specific needs, that could make it easier and safer for you, or a person you care for living with EB, to undertake everyday tasks at home including:
- Bathroom adaptations – including grab rails, a bath board, an accessible shower, shower seats, a wet room including perch stool, a rise and fall bath with built-in dressings bench, a hoist to assist with bathing, a full bathroom re-design.
- Kitchen adaptations – including lever taps and a perching stool.
- Bedroom adaptations – repose mattresses, repose cushions.
- Mobility aids – including wheelchairs, mobility scooters, ramps, internal or external widened doorways.
- Exterior adaptations – including the lowering of a curb to enable off road parking or having a disabled space outside your home.
- Other adaptations and aids – including a stair lift, a rise/fall armchair, a dressings bench, perching stools, insoles, minor aids, and even extensions usually when a ground floor bathroom/bedroom is needed.
Please reach out to the DEBRA EB Community Support Team if you want to discuss your specific needs as they may be able to share examples of adaptations and aids that have helped other members of the EB community that could help you too.
Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs)
DFGs are grants provided by your local authority to help meet the cost of adapting a property to meet the needs of a disabled person. The scheme operates in England, Northern Ireland, and Wales but not in Scotland. Scottish councils however are required to give grants for repairs, improvements, and adaptations and thus it is recommended that disabled people in Scotland contact their local social work department before applying for a grant. To find your local council in Scotland please visit the mygov.scot website.
Securing a DFG won’t affect any other benefits you receive.
In this section you can find out more information about DFGs or you can visit:
DFGs are designed to make larger changes (typically those costing £1,000+) to your home if you are disabled. This could include a variety of adaptations, such as improving access to your garden, building an extension for example if you wanted to set up a downstairs bedroom, or adapting heating or lighting controls to make them more accessible. These grants are administered and paid by your local council’s housing department. However, they can usually only be used for work that your local council has assessed you as needing.
To be eligible to get a DFG from your council, you, or the person you care for, must be classed as disabled, which under the Equality Act 2010 is if you have a physical or mental impairment, such as EB, that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.
Whether you are successful in securing a DFG will also be determined by how much you earn and your household savings, which is known as means testing.
To check the eligibility criteria, please visit GOV.UK’s guidance.
You can also use the Adapt my Home online self-assessment tool to quickly check if you could be eligible for a DFG.
- England – up to £30,000
- Wales – up to £36,000
- Northern Ireland – up to £25,000
You can also apply for another grant for the same property if you need to, for example, if your condition changes.
A decision will be made within 6 months of submitting your application.
You apply through your local council who will require a needs assessment to be undertaken before they can consider you application.
A needs assessment is free of charge, and anyone can ask for one. It will involve a social care professional, which could be an occupational therapist or trained assessor, visiting you, or the patient you care for, at home to find out how you’re managing with everyday tasks and to assess your needs and if any changes to the home are needed. They’ll then advise on what support you need, including equipment and home adaptations that would make things easier for you. If you’re considered ‘eligible’, the council will have a duty to help you.
If your DFG application was declined and you are deemed ineligible, you can appeal the decision with your local council. If your appeal is unsuccessful and you’re still not happy with the decision you can submit a complaint to the local government and social care ombudsman.
Please don’t be downhearted if you are deemed ineligible for a DFG as there are other options that could be open to you including through DEBRA UK. Please contact your local DEBRA EB Community Support Manager to discuss the DEBRA grant scheme for equipment not funded by either the NHS or your local authority.
You could also contact other organisations who award grants for home adaptations.
In addition to DFGs, most local authorities will have a budget to pay for smaller changes to your home that typically cost less than £1,000. This could include installing grab rails, a dropped curb, or widening of doorways and the items and installation will typically be done free of charge.
For more information, please contact your local council.
If you need equipment to support your daily life, including a wheelchair, mobility scooter, or bathroom equipment, you can apply for support through your local authority.
As with home adaptations, to apply for mobility aids through your local authority you need to request a social care needs assessment. This will list ‘desired’ and ‘essential’ outcomes, your local authority has a duty to meet the essential outcomes.
For more information about a care needs assessment and for a link to request one, please visit the NHS website.
Getting a wheelchair
How and where you get a wheelchair depends on your situation and needs. You may be able to get a wheelchair free through the NHS or through grants, charities, or fundraising.
To get a wheelchair free through the NHS you will need to have a wheelchair assessment to see if you’re eligible. For more information, please visit:
If you are unable to get a wheelchair for free through the NHS, you may be able to access a grant from another organisation to help you part of fully fund the cost of the wheelchair
Access to work scheme
The NHS initiative, Access to Work grants can also help you get or stay in work if you have a physical or mental health condition or disability.
The support you get will depend on your needs, but you can apply for the following:
- specialist equipment and assistive software
- support workers, like a BSL interpreter, a job coach or a travel buddy
- costs of travelling to work, if you cannot use public transport
- adaptations to your vehicle so you can get to work
- physical changes to your workplace
For more information, please visit the GOV.UK website.
Other grants and support
There are other organisations in addition to your local council and the NHS that may be able to provide grants and/or support you with home adaptations and mobility aids.
Please find links below to organisations that may be able to help.
Independence at Home
Independence at Home is a charity that provides grants to people of all ages who have a physical or learning disability or long-term illness and who are in financial need.
The financial help offered is intended to enable the recipient to obtain mobility and disability equipment, home adaptations and other essential items to make an immediate, practical, and positive effect on daily life at home.
Independence at Home’s grants vary between £300 and £600 and depend on the item of equipment purchased or building work carried out. The average grant is £370.
For more information, please visit Independence at Home’s website.
Housing association grants
If you rent a property from a housing association do check their policies and procedures regarding home adaptations. They may ask you to apply to your local authority for a DFG on your own, or they may be able to support you with your application and may even have their own funding for larger adaptations which would mean that you wouldn’t have to apply to your local authority for a grant, so it is worth contacting them.
Local Care and Repair groups or Home Improvement Agencies (HIA) grants
These groups provide support to disabled and older people helping them to stay in safe housing that meets their needs.
They may be able to help you find local schemes and grants to help with the cost of adaptations, provide support for DFG and other grant applications, and help with planning the work, finding tradespeople, and getting quotes.
For more information, please visit the Home Improvement Agency’s website.
If you live in Wales, please visit the Care and Repair Cymru website.
Other useful links:
- Turn2us can help you search for grants that you may be eligible for.
- Living Made Easy provide free advice about home adaptations.
- Independent Age support people facing financial hardship in later life and can provide advice on home adaptations.
- MoneyHelper provide advice about funding for home adaptations.
- Variety, the Children’s Charity can help supply wheelchairs for children if they are not available through the local authority.
- Tree of Hope provide a platform to support families to fundraise for home adaptations.
Page published: October 2024
Last review date: June 2025
Next review date: June 2026