Home repair assistance grants

If your home only requires minor repairs to bring it up to a decent standard, you may be eligible for a home repair assistance grant of up to £5,000 (including VAT, fees, ancillary costs and unforeseen works). The grant can be used to:

  • remedy minor disrepair
  • remedy severe damp problems
  • replace unsafe or dangerous electrical wiring or gas fittings
  • replace broken windows, doors or rotten floorboards

Download a copy of the Housing Renewal Assistance Policy 2015 (updated 6 November 2020)(PDF 558kb).

Who can apply?

To apply you must own and live in the property as your only home (shared ownership arrangements included) or be a tenant with a repairing obligation. You must have lived in the property for at least 3 years prior to the date of the grant application, the property must be at least 10 years old and fail the decent homes standard.

In addition, you must fall into one of the following categories:

  • 18 years or over, disabled and claiming either income support (due to being disabled); employment support allowance (must be in the support group); attendance allowance; disability living allowance; personal independence allowance; industrial injuries disablement benefit or universal credit (where this has replaced income support)
  • 18 years or over with children under 16 and claiming income support; working or child tax credit (with an assessed household income of less than £15,050*) or universal credit (where this has replaced any of the benefits listed)
  • 60 or over and claiming guarantee pension credit; income support; attendance allowance; disability living allowance; personal independence payment; war disablement pension; industrial injuries disablement benefit or universal credit (where this has replaced income support)

*this amount will be reviewed every April

Are there any restrictions on who can apply?

There are restrictions on who can apply for a grant, more information can be found in the application pack.

What is the decent homes standard?

To meet the decent homes standard a property must:

  • be free of category one hazards (as defined by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System)
  • be in a reasonable state of repair (only key building components are assessed e.g. roof structure, windows/doors electrics)
  • have reasonably modern facilities and services
  • have efficient heating and effective insulation

If the property does not meet all four criteria, it will fail the standard.

Do I have to pay back the grant?

All grants applied for after the 1 April 2015 are repayable in full if the property is sold or ownership is transferred to someone else. A local charge will be placed on the property when the grant is issued to alert the Council of any sale or transfer of ownership. The charge will only be removed once the grant has been repaid.

If you applied for and received a grant before the 1 April 2015 and you are considering selling the property, the repayment rules are different. If you are selling  or transfer ownership of the property within 10 years of the date the grant was issued, the amount repayable is shown below:

  • sold within 1 year of the grant completion date: 100% of the grant is repaid
  • sold within 1-4 years of the grant completion date: 75% of the grant is repaid
  • sold within 5-9 years of the grant completion date: 50% of the grant is repaid
  • sold 10+ of the grant completion date: the grant is not repayable

How to apply

Download a copy of the Home Repair Assistance Grant Application Form (PDF 138kb). Or you can also request an application form to be sent to you by contacting the Housing Adaptations Team:

Email: HousingAdaptations@westlancs.gov.uk
Tel: 01695 577 177