Published 29 June 2026
The Disabled Facilities Grant, the main route to public funding for home adaptations in England, has received an extra £50 million, bringing total funding to £761 million. The increase means thousands more households could qualify for help in 2026 with equipment such as stairlifts, ramps, level access showers and other changes that make a home safer to live in.
The Disabled Facilities Grant, usually shortened to DFG, provides up to £30,000 in England towards essential adaptations for disabled people. It is administered by local councils, and around 60,000 people receive adaptations funding through it each year. The extra money is intended to widen that reach and cut waiting times, which in many areas have been a long standing frustration for applicants.
A stairlift is one of the most common items the grant pays for. The DFG can fund a stairlift or a through floor home lift when an occupational therapist assesses it as necessary and appropriate for the applicant’s disability. Crucially, the grant covers the equipment, the installation, and any building work required to fit it, not just the lift itself. That can make a meaningful difference when stairs have become the main barrier to staying in a home.
The government has framed the extra funding around prevention. The stated aim is to help more people remain safely in their own homes for longer, while easing pressure on health and care services by reducing falls and enabling faster hospital discharges. Adaptations that allow someone to leave hospital sooner, or avoid a fall in the first place, tend to be far cheaper than the care that follows when those things go wrong. You can read more about how the grant works in this independent guide or on the official GOV.UK grant page.
It is important to be realistic about how the grant works. The DFG is means tested for most adult applicants, so the amount you receive depends on household income and savings, and applications for children are usually not means tested. You must apply through your local council and complete a full assessment, normally including a visit from an occupational therapist, before any work is approved. Because demand is high, it pays to start the process early rather than waiting until a situation becomes urgent.
If you are exploring a stairlift while a grant application is in progress, our stairlift costs guide explains typical pricing for straight and curved models, and our stairlift quote page can help you gather comparable figures. For households where buying outright is not the right fit, stairlift rental can be a shorter term option, and you can browse trusted installers through our find a company directory. The same grant can also fund level access showers and other bathroom mobility adaptations.
The bottom line is that more money in the system should mean more approvals and, in many areas, shorter queues. If you think a stairlift or other adaptation could help you or a relative stay independent at home, contact your local council’s home improvement or adaptations team to begin an assessment.
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Published 29 June 2026