One of the issues that may be a major consideration to someone with MS as well as those living with them, is the need – at some point – to consider adaptations to their home to ensure that everybody can live comfortably and easily in it. A variety of adaptations may prove necessary, although each individual person may well require a different pattern of such adaptations. They are likely to range from installation of stairlifts, to adaptations to living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms and toilets, to making access easier both within the property, as well as into and out of it. Obviously many possible adaptations will not only depend on your own disabilities, but also on the nature and state of the property that you are currently living in.
If you consider that you cannot continue to live in your current house without changes to the accommodation, there is a grant called the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) for which you may be eligible. This is available for owner occupiers, private and housing association tenants, and landlords, and is given by the department of the local council responsible for housing. The person with MS need not personally make an application, for others can do this for them, although they have to demonstrate their right to do so. The maximum mandatory amount that can be awarded is ?20,000, although local authorities have discretion to award more than this.
Mandatory and discretionary awards are given for different purposes. Mandatory grants can be used to:

• facilitate access to and from the property concerned;
• make the property safe for those living in it;
• ensure the disabled person can access the principal family room;
• adapt the kitchen to enable the cooking and preparation of food independently;
• provide access to a room used for sleeping;
• provide or improve access to the toilet, wash basin, bath
(and/or shower);
• improve or provide a heating system in the property for the disabled person;
• adapt heating, lighting or power controls to make them easier to use;
• improve access and movement around the home to enable a disabled occupant to care for another person who normally lives with them.

Discretionary awards can be used to adapt the property to make it more suitable for the accommodation, welfare or employment of the disabled occupant.
There is a means test – both of the disabled person and what are called
‘relevant persons’ – for this Disability Facilities Grant, and you might have to contribute to the cost, depending on your financial situation. For most people with MS, the relevant person will be their spouse/partner – in addition to themselves, or a parent(s) if the person is under 18. The financial assessments are quite complicated and take into account savings (above ?5000), as well as weekly income, set against an assessment of needs as recognized by allowances that the person with MS may have. RADAR has produced an information pack entitled Meeting the Cost of Adaptations which you may find helpful.
If you feel that you cannot afford what the local authority indicates you should contribute, then you can ask the Social Ser vices department to make a ‘top up’ payment or loan. The department can also help with top-up funding for a DFG if the cost is above ?20,000 and the council housing department is only giving a grant up to the
?20,000 limit for mandatory Disability Facilities Grants. Such (albeit discretionary) support has been important to many disabled people who could not obtain full funding for adaptations through their Disability Facilities Grant.
Note that certain adaptations are zero rated for VAT purposes, i.e. the builder will not charge you 17.5% VAT on top of the bill for certain jobs, saving you about a sixth of the bill. Such zero rating will normally include the construction of ramps, widening of doorways and passages to facilitate access by a disabled person; installation of a lift between floors to facilitate access, including maintenance, repair and restoration of decorations, and works to bathrooms and toilets to facilitate use and access by the disabled occupant and any goods supplied in connection with this.
Overall, in deciding whether to make an award, the housing department of the local authority will consider, in consultation with social services, whether the works are necessary and appropriate to the needs of a disabled person. They will also consider whether the adaptations are reasonable and practicable taking into account the age and condition of the property. This might lead to alternative possibilities being considered. These might include urging the disabled occupant to seek a renovation grant to make the property fit, considering whether a reduced level of adaptations to the property would be feasible, and finally considering with the disabled person the option of re-housing. One organization offering help in relation to agencies who can assist you on these issues is Care and Repair.