Plymouth City Council commits to spending over £3m on home adaptations
Plymouth City Council has committed to spending over £3 million to improve disabled people’s homes in the city via the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG).
The total figure of £3,069,132 has been agreed under an executive decision.
This adaptations funding means that Plymouth residents will benefit from assistive technologies being installed in their homes, such as stairlifts, ramps, level access showers, and accessible kitchens, alongside improved wheelchair access.
Plymouth City Council said that it completed over 250 cases last year, which often required multiple pieces of work to give disabled people greater independence in their homes.
According to council, the DFG improves residents’ lives, has the potential to reduce care needs and reliance on social care services, and helps avoid hospital admissions. DFGs are offered to those eligible up to a maximum of £30,000.
Councillor Chris Penberthy, Cabinet Member for Housing, Communities and Cooperative Development said: “I’m really pleased to allocate this money knowing that every single adaptation we make will make all the difference to disabled people and their families.
“We want to ensure that people can stay in their homes as long as they possibly can, continuing independence in safety and with dignity.”
A recent report from Age UK found that over two-thirds of local authorities took longer than the six months recommended by the DFG guidance to install most adaptations through the grant.
