Home Adaptations and Assistance

Overview

The Home Adaptations and Assistance policy explains how Cumberland Council will help residents to live well at home through providing support to make their homes safe, warm and accessible. It describes how we will provide advice on home adaptations, repairs and improvements, and how we support people to access grants and loans to pay for works to the home.

Before Cumberland Council was established in 2023, Carlisle City Council, Allerdale Council and Copeland Council ran this type of services for people who lived in the Cumberland area. Each council had its own policies and approaches, that we are now bringing together into a single policy and a single approach to Housing Adaptations and Assistance.

Examples of the types of housing adaptions and assistance that would be covered by this policy include:

• Adaptions to provide access for a disabled person such as for a bathroom or kitchen
• Stairlifts
• Ramps and handrails
• Energy efficiency works
• Gas safety checks/ works

We particularly want to ask questions on three key areas of this policy. These elements are:

• Establishing a Home Improvement Agency for Cumberland
• A wider range of discretionary offers across the whole of Cumberland.
• The use of deferred payment loans (via a land charge) for some home-owners where costs exceed the mandatory Disabled facility grant level.

Why your views matter

We are seeking the views of Cumberland residents to help inform the final policy and provide supporting evidence for the finalised proposals.