Open consultation

Changing the way government allocates Disabled Facilities Grant funding to local authorities in England

Published 22 July 2025

Applies to England

This consultation seeks views on a proposed change to the way government allocates funding for the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) to local authorities In England.

We particularly welcome responses from local authorities across the country, including those responsible for housing and social care services, as well as from others who have an interest in the way funding is disbursed to local authorities for the DFG.

Scope of the consultation

Topic of this consultation

This technical consultation seeks views on a change to the way government allocates funding for the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) to local authorities In England.

Scope of this consultation

These proposals would affect the way funding is allocated to local authorities in England to help local housing authorities meet their statutory duty to provide adaptations to eligible disabled people of all ages and tenures.

Geographical scope

These proposals relate to England only.

Body/bodies responsible for the consultation

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Duration

This consultation will last for 8 weeks from 22 July to 16 September 2025.

Enquiries

For any enquiries about the consultation, email: disabled.facilitiesgrants@communities.gov.uk

How to respond

We encourage you to respond by completing this online survey.

Alternatively, you can email your response to the questions in this consultation to disabled.facilitiesgrants@communities.gov.uk.

If you are responding in writing, please make it clear which questions you are responding to.

Written responses should be sent to:

Disabled Facilities Grant Consultation,
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government,
Fry Building,
2 Marsham St,
London,
SW1P 4DF

When you reply, please confirm whether you are replying as an individual or submitting an official response on behalf of an organisation and include:

• your name
• your position (if applicable)
• the name of organisation (if applicable)
• an address (including post-code)
• an email address
• a contact telephone number

Introduction

This government recognises the importance of a suitable home environment in enabling people to build and sustain their independence and maintain connections in their local community. Our Plan for Change sets out our clear ambition to deliver 1.5 million new homes in England, including homes that can fit everyone’s needs. We have progressed  a reformed National Planning Policy Framework with mandatory housing targets and at Spending Review we announced that a new Affordable Homes Programme will get an investment of £39 billion over the next 10 years.  

Later this year, government will be publishing a long-term housing strategy, setting out a long-term vision for a housing market that works for communities, builds 1.5 million high quality homes, and delivers the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding for a generation.

People of all ages and tenures should be able to live safely in a home suited to their needs, including adapted homes. Home adaptations, or changes to the to the fabric and fixtures of a home, can give older and disabled people the choice to safely remain in their own homes for longer, by helping to restore or enable independent living, privacy, confidence and dignity for themselves and their families.

Adaptations can help prevent hospitalisation, avoid people staying in hospital longer than they need to or moving to residential care prematurely, and can reduce the amount of care and support an individual may require.

Measures in this government’s Renters’ Rights Bill will improve the situation for disabled renters in the private rented sector who request home adaptations. Abolishing section 21 will give tenants greater confidence in requesting adaptations and challenging unreasonable refusals by removing the threat of retaliatory evictions, while the PRS Landlord Ombudsman will offer a new route of redress for tenants that may be quicker, cheaper, and less adversarial than the courts.

The bill also requires landlords to provide a written statement of terms to new tenants. We intend to mandate that this statement sets out the duty on landlords under the Equality Act 2010 to not unreasonably refuse home adaptation requests from tenants. This will ensure that parties are aware of rights and obligations in relation to adaptations when they enter into a tenancy.

This government has also boosted  funding for the DFG, which supports eligible disabled people to make the home adaptations they need, to £711 million for both 2024 to 25 and 2025 to 26. We will announce further investment in the grant in due course.

Disabled Facilities Grant

The DFG is a capital grant administered by local authorities in England that help meet the cost of home adaptations for those eligible. It can fund adaptations including the installation of stair-lifts, level access showers and wet-rooms, wash and dry toilets, ramps, wider doors, and, in some instances, bespoke home extensions to existing dwellings as well as improvements to access to and from gardens.

Heating systems, insulation and telecare and assistive technology (where it is capital) can be other forms of adaptations.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) hold joint policy responsibility for the DFG. Each year MHCLG allocates and distributes capital funding to local authorities in England to enable local housing authorities to meet their statutory duty to provide adaptations to disabled people subject to a needs assessment, eligibility criteria and a means test.

Local areas have discretion on how they manage the grant if local policies are clearly set out in a published Housing Assistance Policy. For example, authorities may decide to waive the means test or accelerate delivery of individual grants in particular circumstances.

We have concluded a review of the DFG allocations methodology. The way government funding for the DFG is allocated has not been updated since 2011. A 2018 independent review of the Disabled Facilities Grant recommended that this should be reviewed and brought up to date. Government is now consulting on a new approach. This will help ensure alignment with local demand so that more adaptations reach those who need them most. It will also support local authorities to continue to meet their statutory duty.

This consultation fulfils government’s commitment set out in the Better Care Fund (BCF) policy framework 2025 to 2026 to review and consult on a new DFG allocations formula in 2025. Government has also committed to implement a new formula as soon as possible after the consultation.

Updating the distribution of funding is broadly aligned with the government’s wider agenda on local government finances. We have published a consultation on local government funding reform, which seeks views on the detailed approach to determining new funding allocations for local authorities and fire and rescue services, building on responses to the  local authority funding reform: objectives and principles consultation.

We welcome responses from local authorities across the country, including those responsible for housing and social care services, as well as any other organisations or individuals who have an interest in the way DFG funding is allocated and disbursed to local authorities in England.

We encourage all local housing, health and social care authorities to continue to work closely and ensure strategic join up, including in use of DFG funding, to help align housing, health and social care aims. This can be achieved through ensuring the DFG is considered in Better Care Fund plans (more information can be found through the Better Care Fund planning requirements 2025 to 2026), and through setting person-centred local housing assistance policies to benefit local residents. More information can be found about local strategic collaboration and developing and publishing a housing assistance policy through government guidance for local authorities in England on the effective and efficient delivery of the grant.

MHCLG also funds an organisation called Foundations, which is the national body for DFGs and home improvement agencies to provide support to local authorities in England around effective and efficient DFG delivery.

Allocation of resources

Current approach

Funding for the DFG is currently allocated to local authorities in England based on a relative needs approach developed by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) in 2011.

The BRE approach considers the following principles:

• number of disability related benefit claimants
• number of people on means tested benefit
• proportion of population over 60 years of age
• proportion of local authority (LA) owned housing stock

However, concerns about the current allocation of resources have been raised by local authorities and the wider home adaptations sector, and were set out in the 2018 independent review of the DFG.

These concerns include that the current approach is now outdated as it uses indicators and data from 2011. Populations have shifted since then, with more older people now living in rural and coastal areas. The distribution of disabled people has also changed. As a consequence, the amount local authorities are allocated may no longer fairly represent local demand for the DFG.

Updating the approach

We consider that the underlying principles of the current approach remain important aspects of calculating local demand for the DFG.

This is because:

• including an estimate of older people in local areas in addition and separately to an estimate of disabled people enables us to capture the prevalence of older people that may not consider or define themselves as disabled
• applying a measure of income deprivation to the count of disabled and older adults reflects that adult applications for the DFG are means tested
• excluding local authority owned housing stock takes into account that local authorities with a Housing Revenue Account (HRA) should self-fund home adaptations for council tenants through this account

We are proposing to update the indicators and data used to measure these principles.

In addition to the principles set out above, to ensure a fairer allocation of DFG funding to local authorities in England we also propose that:

• the prevalence of disabled children should be considered separately to the prevalence of disabled adults. This is because children’s applications are not means tested, and disabled children that apply for a DFG often require more expensive adaptations
• there should be a weighting in the formula to account for the variation in building costs between regions

Proposal for a new allocations formula

Government is proposing a new approach to allocate funding for the DFG to local authorities in England to address the issues highlighted above. The proposed new methodology is intended to bring the allocations up-to-date and balance:

• simplicity: we intend the approach to be as easy as possible to understand
• stability: we propose to use robust, readily available, national data sources which are likely to continue into the future
• fairness: we want an approach which better reflects relative local demand

We propose that the funding amount government provides to an individual local authority (shown by the subscript ‘i’) is calculated using the following formula:

Where:

• ‘d_i’ is  adult disability in the local authority area
• ‘e_i’ is the number of non-disabled adults aged 65 and over in the local authority area
• ‘y_i’ is the income deprivation score in the area
• ‘c_i’ is child disability in the local authority area
• ‘h_i’ is the proportion of non-council owned housing in the LA
• ‘b_i‘ is a weighting to reflect regional building costs

The population variables in the formula, as above, include estimates of the number of  disabled adults and children in local areas, and estimates of the number of older people in local areas. We consider these to be the main drivers of demand for the DFG. We propose to estimate the number of eligible disabled adults and disabled children separately to help ensure fair representation within the formula.

To obtain an estimate of the value of adult disability (d_i) we combine the following 2 datasets:

• the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP’s) disability benefit claimant data, counting the number of Personal Independent Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Attendance Allowance (AA) and Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) claimants
• DWP’s Family Resources Survey (FRS), which gives us information on regional disability percentages

To obtain an estimate of the value of child disability (c_i), we combine the following 2 datasets:

• local authority level population estimates from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) ^{[footnote 1]}.  From this dataset we defined a child as an individual aged 17 years old or younger

• DWP’s FRS, which gives us information on regional disability percentages. This defines children as individuals that are 15 years old or younger, and 16- to 19-year-olds that are classed as dependents

We consider that the impact of the minor misalignment in the definition of adult and child in the datasets used to understand disability prevalence is minimal.

As DFG can fund age-related adaptations, the formula includes an estimate of the number of older people in local areas. We have already included disabled older people within the estimate of disabled adults so to account for older people that may not be defined as disabled, we add in an estimate of the number of non-disabled older people (e_i). We combine the following 2 datasets:

• DWP’s FRS, which gives us information on the number of older people, which we define as those 65 years old and above, that are disabled by region
• local authority level population estimates from the ONS

We calculate the disabled adult, older people and disabled children terms in the formula as below:

To reflect other drivers of demand for adaptations, in the formula we multiply the disabled adult and older people term by an income deprivation score (y_i), obtained from MHCLG’s index of multiple deprivation 2019, reflecting that DFGs are means-tested so we would expect demand to be higher in more income-deprived areas.

We have also included 2 further adjustments in the formula including:

• the proportion of non-council owned housing (h_i), calculated using MHCLG data on dwelling stock, given that local housing authorities with a HRA should self-fund adaptations for council tenants through this account
• a weighting for regional building cost (b_i), derived from Tender Price Indices data produced by the Building Cost Information Service^{[footnote 2]} to reflect local build costs.

We also propose a maximum grant amount adjustment which will ensure that no local authority will be allocated funding at an amount lower than the upper limit of the grant.

Consultation questions

Question 1: Do you agree with the principles of the proposed new allocations approach?

• yes
• no

Question 2 (a): Would you change anything about the proposed allocation formula?

• yes
• no

Question 2 (b): If yes, what would you change and why?

• formula variable
• datasets used
• calculation of the disabled adult, older people and disabled children terms in the formula
• maximum grant amount adjustment
• other

Please explain in 250 words or less.

Transitioning to a new approach

Updating the DFG allocation methodology means that the share of the total fund amount that an individual local authority will receive will change. Some local authorities will receive a greater proportion of the funding than they currently receive, and other local authorities will receive less. This change will more accurately reflect local need and demand for the DFG.

Government understands the pressures on local demand for the DFG, and that many local authorities have put more generous local housing assistance policies in place based on their current levels of funding. We consider that any transition to a new allocations approach should allow authorities sufficient time to adjust to their new allocation level. This will  help ensure that local authorities can still meet their statutory duty and local demand for the DFG.

We propose to transition to a new DFG allocation methodology by phasing in new allocations over time to gradually move local authorities to their updated funding amounts. This transition could take a number of years.

We invite views on whether we should have a funding floor which would protect a proportion or amount of previously allocated funding amounts for local authorities that would receive less funding with a new allocations methodology.

However, this would involve a direct trade-off with funding amounts for local authorities that would gain funding with a new allocations methodology. Transitioning to a new allocations approach is likely to take longer if local authorities are protected from losses with a funding floor.

Consultation questions

Question 3 (a): Do you agree with the proposal to phase in new allocations to enable local authorities sufficient time to adjust?

• yes (please go to question 3 (b))
• no

Please explain in 250 words or less.

Question 3 (b): Please state how many years you would consider sufficient time to move to new funding allocations with an updated funding formula.

Please add number of years here.

Please explain in 250 words or less.

Question 4 (a): Do you agree or disagree that we should have a funding floor in phasing in new allocations?

• agree (go to question 4 (b))
• disagree

Please explain in 250 words or less:

Question 4 (b): If you agree, do you think the funding floor should be based on retaining a percentage of the previous year’s allocation each year, or set a cash limit on losses each year?

• retaining a percentage of the previous year’s allocation (go to question 4(c))
• set a cash limit on losses each year (go to question 4(d))
• other (go to question 4(e))

Question 4 (c): What percentage do you think a funding floor should be to move to new allocations with an updated DFG funding formula?

Please enter percentage.

Please explain in 250 words or less.

Question 4 (d): What do you think a cash limit on losses each year should be to move to new allocations with an updated DFG funding formula? 

Please enter cash limit here.

Please explain in 250 words or less.

Question 4 (e): What other method should be adopted to smooth the transition to the new approach?

Please add method here.

Please explain in 250 words or less.

Question 5: Please provide any additional information, including the impact an updated funding formula could have on local authorities’ financial sustainability (250 words or less).

Please explain in 250 words or less.

About this consultation

This consultation document and consultation process have been planned to adhere to the Consultation Principles issued by the Cabinet Office.

Representative groups are asked to give a summary of the people and organisations they represent, and where relevant who else they have consulted in reaching their conclusions when they respond.

Information provided in response to this consultation may be published or disclosed in accordance with the access to information regimes (these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and UK data protection legislation.  In certain circumstances this may therefore include personal data when required by law.

If you want the information that you provide to be treated as confidential, please be aware that, as a public authority, the Department is bound by the information access regimes and may therefore be obliged to disclose all or some of the information you provide. In view of this it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential. If we receive a request for disclosure of the information we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the Department.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will at all times process your personal data in accordance with UK data protection legislation and in the majority of circumstances this will mean that your personal data will not be disclosed to third parties. A full privacy notice is included below.

Individual responses will not be acknowledged unless specifically requested.

Your opinions are valuable to us. Thank you for taking the time to read this document and respond.

Are you satisfied that this consultation has followed the Consultation Principles?  If not or you have any other observations about how we can improve the process please contact us via the complaints procedure.

Personal data

The following is to explain your rights and give you the information you are  entitled to under UK data protection legislation.

Note that this section only refers to personal data (your name, contact details and any other information that relates to you or another identified or identifiable individual personally) not the content otherwise of your response to the consultation.

1. The identity of the data controller and contact details of our Data Protection Officer    

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is the data controller. The Data Protection Officer can be contacted at dataprotection@communities.gov.uk or by writing to the following address:

Data Protection Officer,
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government,
Fry Building,
2 Marsham Street,
London,
SW1P 4DF

2. Why we are collecting your personal data  

Your personal data is being collected as an essential part of the consultation process, so that we can contact you regarding your response and for statistical purposes. We may also use it to contact you about related matters.

We will collect your IP address if you complete a consultation online. We may use this to ensure that each person only completes a survey once. We will not use this data for any other purpose.

Sensitive types of personal data

Please do not share special category personal data or criminal offence data  if we have not asked for this unless absolutely necessary for the purposes of your consultation response. By ‘special category personal data’, we mean information about a living individual’s:

• race
• ethnic origin
• political opinions
• religious or philosophical beliefs
• trade union membership
• genetics
• biometrics 
• health (including disability-related information)
• sex life; or
• sexual orientation.

By ‘criminal offence data’, we mean information relating to a living individual’s criminal convictions or offences or related security measures.

3. Our legal basis for processing your personal data

The collection of your personal data is lawful under article 6(1)(e) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation as it is necessary for the performance by MHCLG of a task in the public interest/in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller.  Section 8(d) of the Data Protection Act 2018 states that this will include processing of personal data that is necessary for the exercise of a function of the Crown, a Minister of the Crown or a government department i.e. in this case a consultation.

Where necessary for the purposes of this consultation, our lawful basis for the processing of any special category personal data or ‘criminal offence’ data (terms explained under ‘Sensitive Types of Data’) which you submit in response to this consultation is as follows. The relevant lawful basis for the processing of special category personal data is Article 9(2)(g) UK GDPR (‘substantial public interest’), and Schedule 1 paragraph 6 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (‘statutory etc and government purposes’). The relevant lawful basis in relation to personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences data is likewise provided by Schedule 1 paragraph 6 of the Data Protection Act 2018.

4. With whom we will be sharing your personal data

As the Disabled Facilities Grant is a joint policy with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), data from the consultation may be shared with DHSC.

MHCLG may also appoint a ‘data processor’, acting on behalf of the department and under our instruction, to help analyse the responses to this consultation.  Where we do we will ensure that the processing of your personal data remains in strict accordance with the requirements of the data protection legislation.

5. For how long we will keep your personal data, or criteria used to determine the retention period.

Your personal data will be held for 2 years from the closure of the consultation, unless we identify that its continued retention is unnecessary before that point.

6. Your rights, e.g. access, rectification, restriction, objection

The data we are collecting is your personal data, and you have considerable say over what happens to it. You have the right:

a. to see what data we have about you

b. to ask us to stop using your data, but keep it on record

c. to ask to have your data corrected if it is incorrect or incomplete

d. to object to our use of your personal data in certain circumstances

e. to lodge a complaint with the independent Information Commissioner (ICO) if you think we are not handling your data fairly or in accordance with the law.  You can contact the ICO at https://ico.org.uk/, or telephone 0303 123 1113.

Please contact us at the following address if you wish to exercise the rights listed above, except the right to lodge a complaint with the ICO: dataprotection@communities.gov.uk or

Knowledge and Information Access Team,
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government,
Fry Building,
2 Marsham Street,
London
SW1P 4DF

7. Your personal data will not be sent overseas.

8. Your personal data will not be used for any automated decision making.

9. Your personal data will be stored in a secure government IT system.

We use a third-party system, Citizen Space, to collect consultation responses. In the first instance your personal data will be stored on their secure UK-based server. Your personal data will be transferred to our secure government IT system as soon as possible, and it will be stored there for 2 years before it is deleted.

1. Population estimates are published by the ONS and accessed via NOMIS. ↩

2. This service requires a subscription to access. ↩