How long will the whole process take?

We receive an enquiry from you. In the case of Disabled Facilities Grants, an Occupational Therapist makes a recommendation.

Your Case Officer will then send an acknowledgement letter within three working days.

Your Case Officer will contact you to check your details and start the ‘Test of Resources’ process.

Read more about the:

• Test of Resources  process

If you apply for a grant, you will be means tested. This is how we decide if you should meet some of the cost of the works. We call this the ‘Test of Resources’.

It is important that when asked you send details of your household income and your family details. We will send you a list of the type of documents you need to send us.

We will check the information. We will use it to work out how much you have to contribute toward the approved cost of the work. We will send you a copy of our report.

You can read more in our section on the:

• Test of Resources

Depending on the demand for grants, it may take some time before we arrange an inspection.

We will contact you to let you know when a Technical Officer will carry out an inspection. We aim to give no less than 10 working days’ notice.

But, changes to our schedule may mean we contact you at shorter notice to offer an earlier inspection.

After the inspection, your Technical Officer will make a list of all the work which you must carry out. You must do this work to qualify for grant aid.

We call this a ‘list of grant aided work’. We will send you a copy of this within 12 weeks of inspection.

We work out the amount of grant we will award based on a 'Schedule of Rates' which reflect fair market rates.

This amount may be less than the estimates you receive from a builder or contractor. You may have asked them to complete extra works not included in the ‘list of grant aided work’.

The estimates you receive may also be higher than the Grants scheme allows.

Please note:

For our discretionary grants (Home Repair, Renovation and Replacement) exceptional circumstances must exist in your case. If so, our Exceptional Circumstances Grants Committee will consider the application.

This independent committee will examine a report and supporting photographs. It will decide if there are ‘exceptional circumstances’ that we should consider.

We may need more information before making a final decision.

We will only complete the ‘List of Grant Aided Work’ after we have done this.

We will send you a list of the documents we will need to process your claim.

This may include:

• proof of ownership
• architect (Principal Designer) plans or proposed plans
• estimates from your builder or contractor (Principal Contractor)
• building control approval; and / or
• planning approval

You should send us the documents requested as soon as possible. You must provide these within six months of the date on our letter.

We will also need documents from other statutory bodies. These may include building control or planning approval. We have no control over how long it takes to get these.

If you find that it is taking longer than expected and may take more than six months please tell us.

You must not start any work until you receive an ‘Approval of Application’ in writing from the us.

This approval confirms:

• how much grant aid you will get
• that you can start work; and
• the date by which you must finish the work

You must provide all the documentation and statutory approvals before we issue this.

It can take up to six months for us to provide an ‘Approval of Application’.

It may take two weeks to schedule a visit to your work site from when we receive your request for an inspection.

You may have agreed stage payments with the Technical Officer for your work.

You should then make sure you have factored in inspection time.

We will only pay the grant awarded when:

• your Builder / Contractor finishes your work 
• Building Control has approved your work 
• our staff have inspected the work, (and, for a Disabled Facilities Grant, an occupational therapist has also inspected and signed off on the work), and
• you have sent us all accounts, receipts and certificates
  • this includes the insurance backed bond which guarantees the work, if applicable.

Once all documents have been received by us it may take up to four weeks until we release the grant payment.