Housing Adaptation Grant

Up to €40,000, and 100% of the cost if your household income is €37,500 or less. The share of the cost and the maximum both fall as income rises and there is no grant over €75,000.

Last checked August 2026 · Updated 13 October 2026

What it is

To adapt a home so someone can live in it: a stair lift or through-floor lift, grab rails, a fixed track hoist, ramps, a downstairs bathroom or bedroom, or an extension. The maximum rose to €40,000 from December 2024, and it can cover 100% of the cost if household income is €37,500 or less. If you are terminally ill or primarily dependent on family or a carer, or you could come home from hospital or residential care once the work is done, you may be PRIORITY 1, the top of three priority levels. Your GP states the priority level on the Doctor's Certificate part of the form, so ask your GP to set it out clearly. Bigger jobs like a stair lift, a hoist or an extension need an Occupational Therapist report first, but you do not have to pay for that out of your own pocket: your council can arrange the assessment for you after you apply, the HSE community occupational therapy service is free and takes self-referrals (there can be a wait), and if you do use a private OT and your grant is approved, up to €300 comes back to you as part of the grant. Carer's Allowance and Carer's Benefit are not counted in the income test. Those works are just examples. The 2024 regulations only say the work must be reasonably necessary to make the house more suitable for someone with an enduring physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual impairment. There is no fixed list. Councils do assess applications for children with autism, and have funded safer doors, light control and calmer colour schemes. The line that catches people out is fabric versus kit: the grant changes the structure or fabric of the home, it will not buy the sensory equipment that goes inside. A multi-disciplinary assessment from healthcare professionals is needed for that kind of application. If a disabled child's parents live apart, a second grant can be paid on the second home. A new build counts, which very few people know. The regulations cover a house whose construction has not started yet once planning permission is granted, and a house built less than 12 months ago, so a family building a home for a disabled child or adult can use this grant. The maximum is half the figure for an existing house, so €20,000 where an existing house would get €40,000, down to €6,000 in the highest income band. Apply BEFORE the work goes in: no grant is paid for works already started or finished before an application has been submitted and approved, so adaptations built into the house first cannot be funded afterwards. A house already part built is a genuine grey area and only the council can rule on it. To be clear which half of that is unique: the new build route belongs to this grant alone. Housing Aid for Older People and the Mobility Aids Grant do not include it. The rule against starting work applies to all three, word for word in the regulations, so never start work before written approval on any of them.

Who can get it

• Someone in the household has a physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual disability
• The home is privately owned, rented with the landlord's written permission and an RTB-registered tenancy, or provided by an approved housing body with their permission
• Gross household income for the previous tax year, after the disregards and deductions, is €75,000 or less

How to apply

Applications go through Local authority. The official page has the full eligibility rules and the application itself.

Checked against the official source on 19 August 2026. Last updated on 13 October 2026. Always confirm the details on the official page before applying.

Questions people ask

Related guides

• Mobility Aids Grant
• Housing Aid for Older People