Cost of living Ireland: People urged to claim €40,000 home grant as criteria is changed

People are being urged to claim this home grant that is worth up to €40,000 as its qualifying criteria has changed.

The Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability is a grant you can get if you have a physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual disability. It provides funding so you can improve how you enter and move around your home.

However, since 1 December 2024, the rules for the Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability changed.

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These changes included:

• Increasing the grant amounts
• Increasing the income limits for the grant
• Increasing the grant to cover 100% of the adaptation work, if you are in the lowest income bracket
• Changing how income is calculated for the means test

You can get an updated application form for the grant from your local authority.

You can find more information about these changes in the Housing (Adaptation Grants for Older People and Disabled People) Regulations 2024.

If you applied for the grant before 1 December 2024, the old rules will apply to your application.

What does the grant cover?

You can use this grant to make your home more accessible by:

• Adding ramps or other ways to access your home
• Adding space for wheelchair access
• Extending your home to create more space, for example, adding a downstairs bedroom
• Adding accessible bathroom facilities, such as an accessible shower or a ground-floor bathroom or toilet
• Installing a stairlift or a through-floor lift
• Installing grab rails
• Installing a fixed track hoist. A fixed track hoist is a ceiling or wall-mounted track with a sling attached to it, which means you can be mechanically lifted and moved to different places along the track. (The grant does not cover maintaining or servicing the hoist, or any training costs.)

The grant may cover other work that the local authority thinks is necessary to make your home more suitable for someone with a disability.

The grant does not cover VAT on the work. However, you may be able to get a VAT refund from Revenue for the appliances that you need.

How much is the grant?

The maximum grant you can get is €40,000 or 100% of the cost of the work (whichever is less).

The amount of money you get depends on your household income for the previous tax year. There are some disregards and deductions that can reduce the amount of household income that your local authority takes into account, see ‘Do I qualify for the grant’ below.

If your household income is less than €37,500, you may get 100% of the cost of the works. This is up to the maximum grant amount of €40,000.

If your house is less than 12 months old, the maximum grant available is €20,000.

As household income increases, the percentage of the costs covered by the grant gradually reduces from 100% to 30%. So, if you have a household income of between €62,501 and €75,000, the maximum grant you can qualify for is 30% of the costs.

You will not qualify for a grant if your gross annual household income is over €75,000.

You can find out more information here.