Home Adaptation Grants

zelda88

Firstly, hi!
I joined because my husband is pretty much housebound by osteoarthritis of all his major joints, plus ankolysing spondylitis in his spine (he's 57).

I am trying to find out whether we can apply for a home improvement grant (we live in Scotland) from our local authority without going through my husband's O.T :?:

We moved into a shared ownership housing association home last summer, it has 3 bedrooms but they are all quite small - one is really tiny and houses my husbands 2 computers (his hobby).

When we were allocated the house we were concerned about the size of the rooms but we took it because it's in a lovely area and is otherwise a great home, also because we didn't have any other choices anyway! . We were already living locally in a privately rented house, and had already been allocated an O.T for my husband.

So now we've been here 8 months it's as plain as the nose on your face that the bedrooms are too small. We have an autistic son and his bedroom is overflowing with all his collections of various memorabilia, as I say the tiny room is full - with 2 computers and a built-in wardrobe! - and we barely have room to move around our bed. All we have in our room is our bed and 2 small bedside cabinets.

I contacted hubby's O.T December 08 and asked if there was any possibility we might be able to get a local authority grant to build an extension onto our existing bedroom. She wasn't really interested!. She said she thought it 'unlikely' as it's a new-build. Having thought about this I am wondering whether she should have come out and assessed this house for our needs/husband's future needs (she has already pointed out to him before that he may well end up in a wheelchair) at the point of allocation :? . She did know we were waiting for a house, and then that we were allocated one.

So she tells us now that she's so busy she doesn't have time to come and do an assessment so that we can apply to our local council for a grant. The council seem to think that the only way we can proceed is through her.

Does anyone here know if this is the case, or can we apply direct to the council for this grant?. We have a letter from our family G.P explaining our circumstances.

Also does anyone know whether the O.T should have assessed this place before we moved in originally?.

Any advice would be HUGELY appreciated!

Wonkylegs

have you contacted the AC helplines ?

they may have info on this area, or failing that will be able to suggest who you might contact to get further help. It certainly sounds as if you need something to change at some point ..... even if the OT doesn't want to be involved!

sorry not to be more help, but haven't travelled this road quite yet.