Adaptations to your home

What is an adaptation 

An adaptation is a change made to a property to make it more accessible and safer. Adaptations can help you live independently, safely and help you manage your day-to-day life in your home. 

There are three categories of adaptations: 

• Minor 
• Moderate   
• Major 

Minor adaptations 

A minor adaptation is a small alteration or adaptation to a property, up to the value of £1,000.  

Minor adaptations include: 

• Lever-operated taps 
• Handrails 
• Grab rails 
• Additional external lighting 
• Flashing fire alarms 
• Key safe 

If multiple minor adaptations are requested and the cost is greater than £1,000, we would treat as a moderate adaptation.  

Moderate adaptations 

A moderate adaptation is larger scale alteration or adaptation to a property.  These have a value of between £1,000 and £30,000.  

Moderate adaptations include: 

• Ramps 
• Widening of doorways 
• Stairlifts, hoists, through-floor lifts 
• Over-bath showers 
• Level access showers 
• Driveways (hardstandings) and footpaths 
• Auto-wash toilet 
• Soundproofing 
• Triple glazing 

If multiple moderate adaptations are requested and the cost is greater than £30,000, we would treat as a major adaptation.  

Major adaptations 

Major adaptations are larger, more complex changes to the property that often involve structural alterations that cost over £30,000. An example of a major adaptation is an extension to fit a ground floor bedroom. 

Requesting an adaptation 

You can request an adaptation if you or your dependent have a disability or long-term health condition. This covers any physical or mental impairment that negatively affects their ability to do normal, daily activities.  

Moderate and major adaptations 

Moderate and major adaptations require an Occupational Therapy (OT) assessment. You can request a free OT assessment on Derby City Council’s website. 

You can also pay for a private OT assessment if you prefer. If you do, you will need to provide written consent for the assessment to be reviewed by a Derby City Council Occupational Therapist, otherwise we will not be able to use it to support your adaptation request. 

We will only approve major adaptations in exceptional circumstances. 

Minor adaptations 

You do not need an OT referral to request a minor adaptation. You can request a minor adaptation by emailing [email protected] or by calling us.  

Approvals and timescales

Minor and moderate adaptations are statutory, which means we must approve all requests, as long as it is for someone with a disability or long-term health condition. 

Major adaptations are only approved in very rare circumstances. We will only approve major adaptations if: 

• An OT assessment makes clear recommendations that the work is needed to help the person live independently. 
• There are no alternative properties available that are suitable. 
• The proposed work meets all planning permission and building regulation requirements. 

We will always check the requests are suitable for the property before we consider them for approval.  

Appealing a decision 

If a major adaptation request is refused you can appeal the decision. This will be reviewed by the Director of Property. Once that decision has been made, you will not be able to make another appeal. 

Timescales* 

Minor – Completed within 25 working days of receiving the request 

Moderate – Completed within 90 working days of receiving the referral from Derby City Council 

Major – Started within 26 weeks of receiving the referral from Derby City Council  

*These timescales may vary. We have a set amount of money we can spend on adaptations in a year. If all this money has already been allocated when we receive your request, we will plan the work for the next financial year instead. We will let you know if this is the case. 

Keeping you informed 

Major adaptations 

We will contact you to let you know if your request has been approved. If it’s approved, we will contact you at least every three months to update you on any progress until the work is complete. 

Minor and Moderate adaptations 

Once approved, we will contact you to arrange your appointment.  

Making the best use of adapted properties 

There is a shortage of fully adapted properties in Derby, especially for families.  

When adapted properties do become available, we will make sure that they are allocated to people that require these adaptations.