Building Standards
Housing Grants
Disabled Grants
In assessing the needs of the applicant the Council's Building
Standards Service consults the Occupational Therapists, Social
Work Services, South Ayrshire Council.
Grant aid may be available for the following improvement work:
- extensions or alterations to provide bathrooms
- provision of special sanitary fitments suitable for a disabled
person
- widening of door openings to permit wheelchair manoeuvre.
- It is not intended that disabled grant should be made available
for the provision of 'portable equipment', responsibility
for such provision rests with social work or health authorities.
The maximum approved expense for a Disabled Persons Grant is £20,000
and the minimum level of grant is 50%.
An application for a Disabled Persons Grant must be accompanied
by two detailed estimates and specifications of the proposed
works.
A copy of Title Deeds/Land Certificate must be submitted before
registration of the application can be made.
Depending on the nature of the work to be done, Building Warrant and/or
Planning Permission may have to be obtained from South Ayrshire
Council. Further advice is available from:
The Building Standards Service, 2nd Floor, Burns
House, Burns Statue Square, Ayr (Tel. North Team - 01292 616176 and South
Team - 01292 616264)
The Planning Development Service, 2nd Floor, Burns
House, Burns Statue Square, Ayr (Tel. 01292 616107)
Any grant aided works must be carried out to the satisfaction
of the Council. Inspection by Officials of the Council will be
necessary.
If your application is not approved or if the amount of grant
is less than that which may be fixed under the relevant legislation,
you will be given reasons in writing.
If the house is security for a loan, eg. a mortgage, the Building
Society or other lender should be notified of the application
for grant. A copy of any necessary letter of consent should be
attached to the application.
If you are not the owner of the house, the owner (and all joint
owners) must agree to the application being made. If granted,
the payment of grant will be subject to the following conditions,
which will apply to the house for a period of 5 years from the
date of the payment of grant. The owner must agree to abide by
these conditions;
- the house must be used as a private dwelling-house (although
part may be used for business purposes);
- if the owner or a member of their family occupy the house,
it must be their main home; and
- the house must be kept in good repair, as far as possible.
The conditions will be registered on the Title Deeds/Land Certificate
of the house. If the conditions are breached, the local authority
may require the grant to be repaid, with interest. If there are
any loans secured on the house the lender should be informed
of this application. These conditions do not apply to business
premises.
The amount of grant that may be paid usually depends on the
income of the applicant (the disabled person) and their partner
over the past year. ('Partner' means someone you
are married to, or someone who normally lives with you as if
you are married.) If the disabled person is under 16 years old,
the application should be made by their parent, or other person
responsible for them.
South Ayrshire Council's Building Standards Service has
information on the following types of Grant to tell you more
about the grants system and how the amount of grant is calculated:
Grants for Smoke
Detectors
Grants for Repairs and Improvements
Note: The South Ayrshire Care and Repair Scheme is designed to assist with the improvement of privately owned housing for occupants/residents over 60 or disabled.
Further information can be obtained from:
South Ayrshire Care and Repair
Unit 2 Beresford Court
6 Beresford Lane
AYR KA7 2DW
Tel: 01292 281813
Please contact us if you require further details.