Councils and other stakeholders are being invited to respond to a UK Government consultation on its proposals to change the way it allocates funding for the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) to local authorities in England.
The government is consulting on a new approach that will better support local authorities to meet their statutory duty to provide adaptations and ensure funding is better aligned with local demand.
First, ministers are advocating a modernised needs‑based formula. Six data‑driven components would be blended to gauge each council’s likely demand for adaptations: the number of disabled adults in the area, the total population of older (aged 65 and above) non-disabled residents in the area, local income deprivation scores, the prevalence of disabled children in the area, the proportion of homes that fall outside a council’s own housing stock, and a regional building‑cost index to capture geographic price differences.
Together, these measures are designed to reflect 2025 demographic and socio-economic realities rather than the 2011 model that still underpins today’s DFG allocations.
Secondly, the government proposes a maximum grant amount adjustment which will ensure that no local authority will be allocated funding at an amount lower than the upper limit of the grant.
The third element is a phased transition plan. Recognising that its proposed funding distributions will see some local authorities receiving more funding and some receiving less based on local demand for DFG, the government is seeking views on how long the shift to the new formula should take and whether annual “funding floor” limits should be implemented to cap the speed of losses. The aim is to smooth budget planning for councils to give them time to adjust to their new funding allocations.
Finally, the consultation spells out the datasets that will power the new funding distribution formula. The government commits to using publicly accessible sources, including ONS population estimates, DWP disability benefit claimant data, the Family Resources Survey which gives information on regional disability percentages, the MHCLG’s index of multiple deprivation 2019, MHCLG dwelling stock statistics, and the Building Cost Information Service’s Tender Price Indices data.
By anchoring the model in transparent, up‑to‑date evidence, the government hopes to build confidence that future allocations will keep pace with demographic change, economic conditions, and construction‑cost inflation.
The consultation can be accessed online here. The deadline to respond is 16 September 2025.
Foundations and The Occupational Therapy Service are offering in-house Trusted DFG Assessor Training for local authorities, home improvement agencies, and housing associations. The Trusted DFG Assessor Training programme is designed to equip professionals, such as housing officers, technical officers, or grants managers, with the skills and confidence to assess and recommend adaptations effectively.
