Government confirms over £700m for the Disabled Facilities Grant to tackle cost of living
The government has confirmed £723 million for the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) to help older and disabled people adapt their homes so they can live safely and independently.
According to the government, the DFG supported around 60,000 people last year and it helps keep people out of hospital and living comfortably in their own homes.
The Government is also increasing the amount that working-age adults who receive social care must be able to keep after paying for home care (known as the minimum income guarantee) by seven per cent from April 2026 – strengthening this safety net to ensure that people have enough for daily expenses and helping to ease financial pressures.
The changes form part of the government’s action to support those that need it most with the cost of living, while reforming adult social care and improving independence.
Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock, said: “We are determined to not only reform adult social care but do it in a way that helps some of the most vulnerable people in society with the daily pressures they face.
“From April, more than 150,000 disabled adults will keep hundreds of pounds more each year – putting extra money back into their pockets to help with everyday costs. At the same time, we are putting more money into funding life-changing home adaptations so older and disabled people can live safely and independently.
“These steps are part of our wider plans to build a national care service rooted in quality, fairness and dignity for all that use it.”
From April 2026, the personal expenses allowance, financial support for those in residential care and the minimum income guarantee for all other age groups (over state pension age) will increase by 3.8 per cent.
The DFG enables people to make practical changes to their homes – from level-access showers to lifts and smart assistive technology – helping them move around safely, maintain independence, and stay connected to family and community.
Home adaptations play a crucial role in supporting the NHS by preventing falls and other accidents in the home, speeding up hospital discharges and reducing admissions, all of which ease pressure on the health service and help to shift care out of hospital and into the community.
The government is committed to building a national care service based on high-quality care, choice and control and has appointed Baroness Louise Casey to chair an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering this. Her first recommendations are due to be published this year.
To reform adult social care, the government has made available a funding boost of £4.6 billion by 2028 to 2029, including £500 million for the first ever fair pay agreement to bolster the recruitment and retention of care workers.
The fair pay agreement is a major step towards boosting the wages of adult social care workers across England. A new body to negotiate changes to pay and terms and conditions for care workers will be set up including both employers and trade unions – driving real change for a workforce that has long been undervalued and underpaid.
Alongside this, the government is improving training and qualifications, and has launched the first ever universal career structure for carers.
The 2026 to 2027 Disabled Facilities Grant allocations are:
- North East: £40,991,139
- North West: £124,356,177
- Yorkshire and the Humber: £69,779,658
- East Midlands: £51,658,126
- West Midlands: £89,602,528
- East of England: £66,019,956
- London: £95,935,564
- South East: £115,148,496
- South West: £69,508,356
The total is £723,000,000.
