Aids and Adaptations

• For Owner / Occupiers or privately rented residents please contact your Landlord or direct your enquiry to Hertfordshire Home Improvement  Agency on 01438 843467 or visit Hertfordshire County Council: Equipment, home care and housing options  ‘Ask for Social Care Help’ who will be able to offer you advice. 

Our aim is to help residents adapt their home.

The following groups can apply:

• Council residents.
• A resident, who has a disabled person living in their home who is named on the tenancy agreement as living there, can apply on behalf of the disabled person.
• A parent or guardian of a child with a disability can apply, if the child is under 18 years old.
• In all cases the disabled person should be registered, or eligible to be registered, as disabled with Social Services through a Care Manager.
• The disabled person will usually be referred to us by an Occupational Therapist who will have assessed their needs and made a referral to the Council on your behalf.

Funding is available for essential adaptations to give the disabled person better freedom of movement into and around their home.

This could include:

• Works to make it easier to get into and out of your home, for example by widening doors or putting in ramps;
• Work to make access easier to the living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom for example by putting in a stair lift or a floor lift;
• Providing suitable bathroom and kitchen facilities such as over bath showers or replacing a bath with a level access shower;
• Providing suitable kitchen facilities at wheelchair height so that you can use the facilities independently. 
• Works and/or fixed equipment for people with sensory impairments, for example smoke alarms for those with hearing loss.
• Works and/or fixed equipment for people with sensory or developmental, for example safety locks.
• Improving or adapting heating or lighting controls and systems to make them easier to use.
• Improving access and movement around your home so that you can care for someone who lives with you. 

You will need to be referred to us by an Occupational Therapist who will have assessed your needs and made a referral to the Council on your behalf

Proposed adaptations will be assessed by a surveyor from the council to ensure they are eligible for funding. 

Works must be:

Necessary and appropriate to meet your needs

Reasonable and practical depending on the age and condition of the property

Based on need and not what is desired. This may mean that shared facilities, such as a bathroom are adapted to meet the needs of the disabled person

To be eligible for the funding, the Council must approve the work on the property before work starts.

If a home cannot be adapted to meet your needs, the Council may be able to offer financial help towards moving to a more suitable home.

It maybe the adaptations to your home are not feasible, and your home then becomes unsuitable. It is then your choice to move to a more suitable property. Where you would need to make an application for housing via St Albans Home Choice website. 

The Adaptations Team will assist you in finding a suitable property. 

In certain circumstances, we will fund the cost of your removals and any necessary minor works.

The Council will only carry out minor adaptations works to any property you accept. If you accept a tenancy and then require major adaptations for an existing medical condition, you may be required to relocate to more suitable accommodation, even if you get a referral from a medical professional.

If you accept a property without the assistance of the Adaptations Team you must ensure that it already has the adaptations you need.

Mutual Exchanges

If your property has been adapted you might not be permitted to apply for a mutual exchange. You should contact your Housing Officer for further advice