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Local UK Councils Disabled Facilities Grant Spending

Outline: Freedom of Information Requests submitted on behalf of A Wood Idea have revealed that UK council funding through Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) is at a 10-year high. Collective spend by councils on DFGs has increased by a third over the past ten financial years rising from £75,000,000 to over £100,000,000. Small changes matter a great deal and something that may seem minor can have such an enriching impact on the life of a disabled person.

Main Digest

Freedom of Information requests were sent to 73 U.K. councils to understand how spending on these life changing grants has changed over the last 10 years.

The data we have is split regionally and uncovered some fascinating statistics that bucks the current trend of austerity in local government.

The collective spend by councils on DFGs has increased by a third over the past ten financial years rising from £75,000,000 to over £100,000,000.

What Are Disabled Facilities Grants?

Disabled Facilities Grants (DFG's) are paid under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 for the provision of grant aided adaptations for disabled persons' properties within the UK. The applicant must be an owner occupier, a private tenant, a landlord with a disabled tenant, a local authority tenant; or a housing association tenant. Local authorities may carry out the work either through provision of money to the applicant or through an agency service. The maximum mandatory value of works is £30,000 in England; however the local authority can use discretionary powers to increase the value of works.

Council Data

Data from 73 councils in England shows that the collective spend through DFGs has grown by over 33%, rising from £75,000,000 in 2009/10 to over £100,000,000 in 2018/19, as an increasing number of people use the grants to fund essential accessibility adaptations to their homes.

Of the councils who responded to the requests, Leeds City Council was found to spend the most on funding the grants, averaging £6,508,716 annually between 2009/10 and 2018/19. Manchester City Council followed in second place with an average spend of £4,654,900.

Wokingham Council had the lowest DFG annual spend on average at £397,948, based on data supplied between 2014/15 and 2018/19. Slough Borough Council took second place with an average spend of £489,476, followed by Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead's £534,564.

Waltham Forest Council's spend increased the most across the 10 financial years, jumping from £978,113 in 2009/10 to £2,052,908 in 2018/19. This shows a 110% increase, which correlates with the growth in the number of DFG applications the council received - up from 78 in 2009/10 to 372 in 2018/19.

In contrast, Hull County Council's DFG spend had reduced by 42% between 2009/10 and 2018/19, dropping from £2,180,000 in to £1,247,000. However, the number of grants approved had roughly halved.

Overall, councils in the North West had the highest collective average spend over the ten financial years at £25,952,343, averaging at £1,853,738 per year.

However, councils in Yorkshire & The Humber are spending the most on DFGs on average, at £2,391,541 per year. Councils in the South East have the lowest average spend per year at £905,125, followed by Greater London with an average spend of £1,066,755.

DFGs approved by Sutton Council had the highest value, averaging at £13,751. At the other end of the scale, Milton Keynes Council spends the lowest amount on average, equalling £3,766 per grant.

Hollie-Anne Brooks, a respected journalist and a passionate campaigner for disability rights, became disabled a little over 12 months ago, and although she doesn't have first hand experience of the Disability Facilites Grant she has spoken with countless people who have had their lives changed for the better by the grants.

"Although I haven't personally applied for a DFG, I know full well the positive impact they can have on a person's life. Small changes matter a great deal and something that may seem minor can have such an enriching impact on the life of a disabled person - both from an accessibility point of view but also in terms of their mental health."

"Though it's great that the money is available when people need to access it, one of the major problems we currently have with the grant is awareness. Although it's positive to see that spending across councils on DFG's generally seems to be increasing, it's critical that the people who need it most are aware that these life-changing grants are available to them."

Council DFG Spend

Most DFGs Issued

*based on 6 years of data only, from 2013/14.

** 2018/19 data not supplied.

Fewest DFGs Issued

Highest DFG Spend on Average

Lowest DFG Spend on Average

***Based on the average spend for the data provided between 2014/15 and 2018/19.

A Wood Idea - Council DFG Spending In England

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVW
1 Council 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20
2 DFGs Issued DFG Spend DFGs Issued DFG Spend DFGs Issued DFG Spend DFGs Issued DFG Spend DFGs Issued DFG Spend DFGs Issued DFG Spend DFGs Issued DFG Spend DFGs Issued DFG Spend DFGs Issued DFG Spend DFGs Issued DFG Spend DFGs Issued DFG Spend
3 Central Bedfordshire Council 245 £1,863,437 331 2,272.828.48 393 £2,706,667 393 £2,550,493 315 £2,267,991 229 £2,182,621 204 £1,921,349 207 £2,221,243 162 £1,535,399 147 £1,630,209
4 Knowsley Council 282 £1,431,000 314 £1,500,000 373 £1,102,000 281 £1,256,000 214 £1,168,000 272 £1,281,000 317 £1,345,000 356 £2,078,000 379 £2,519,000 597 £3,500,000
5 Warrington 134 £1,237,341 145 £1,158,537 135 £895,044 127 £935,844 141 £1,017,402 165 £983,075 142 £980,575 168 £1,087,011 131 £1,278,767 142 £1,362,866
6 Milton Keynes Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied 124 £959,358 316 £706,000 308 £1,151,850
7 Newcastle City Council 346 £1,810,050 351 £1,937,127 253 £1,496,987 289 £1,251,668 373 £1,380,347 311 £1,964,268 252 £1,623,635 357 £1,580,065 410 £1,986,255 364 £2,252,078 34 £93,931
8 Harrow 125 £945,000 95 £1,366,000 223 £2,051,000 156 £1,066,000 164 £1,307,000 190 £1,414,500 159 £1,469,500 174 £1,619,100 235 £2,662,400 240 £2,330,225
9 Portsmouth County Council 50 £312,254 125 £646,033 91 £536,358 130 £733,902 118 £621,275 139 £936,990 157 £1,056,537 126 £840,423 168 £1,127,103 179 £1,409,966
10 North East Lincolnshire Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied 263 £1,843,033 205 £1,680,708 156 £1,109,626 179 £1,342,192 129 £1,163,300 109 £1,684,451 209 £2,058,076 223 £2,089,568
11 Shropshire Council Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied 157 £1,531,587 167 £1,392,763 196 £1,712,618 222 £1,635,788 189 £1,456,240 187 £1,190,117 166 Not yet available 10 N/A
12 Barnet Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied 223 £1,475,254 232 £1,542,897 255 £2,022,963 180 £1,550,300
13 Telford 174 £1,397,289 317 £1,490,867 305 £1,428,553 315 £1,433,448 254 £1,299,010 211 £1,038,642 185 £846,577 197 £1,438,785 269 £1,478,620 258 £2,195,170
14 Trafford 252 £2,049,598 267 £1,679,490 380 £2,384,283 278 £1,837,028 157 £913,501 220 £1,346,496 230 £1,575,791 254 £1,846,226 205 £1,554,367 218 £2,264,563
15 Slough Borough Council 76 £487,348 79 £576,759 47 £355,496 69 £530,962 81 £604,590 70 £444,879 48 £401,201 46 £349,625 50 £608,068 51 £535,832
16 London Borough of Bromley 146 £1,019,264 144 £1,010,000 120 £1,061,453 97 £937,162 98 £714,083 150 £956,458 86 £967,945 126 £1,010,967 152 £1,110,045 163 £1,219,890
17 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council 233 £1,541,101 183 £1,157,599 175 £1,038,755 168 £985,721 173 £1,337,339 112 £812,361 142 £1,047,496 167 £1,282,118 206 £1,416,574 246 £1,575,471
18 Redcar & Ckeveland Borough Council Not supplied Not supplied 159 Not supplied 244 £1,217,831 149 £976,687 137 £871,116 135 £621,822 115 £530,704 100 £457,645 151 £771,635 159 £891,299
19 Southwark Council 214 £1,413,219 195 £1,330,410 203 £1,231,915 187 £1,120,670 152 £912,570 119 £1,127,895 111 £1,176,919 79 £976,087 81 £916,372 105 £1,573,344
20 London Borough of Barking & Dagenham 73 £751,163 103 £725,531 91 £613,021 103 £639,244 83 £574,455 80 +(4 PART PAID) £541,410 122 £793,536 118 £1,126,822 96 £1,067,961 88 £891,101
21 Waltham Forest Council 78 £978,113 105 £463,285 10 £182,000 168 £101,486 99 £1,519,284 114 £907,610 0 £576,355 153 £1,373,501 229 £1,047,424 372 £2,052,908
22 Wokingham Council Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied 19 £246,324 21 £287,035 31 £462,518 28 £378,792 43 £615,069
23 Hartlepool Council Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied 123 £609,000 160 £737,000 141 £720,000 213 £1,060,000 182 £1,026,000 173 £1,159,000
24 Rutland County Council Not supplied £111,800 Not supplied £137,900 Not supplied £172,458 Not supplied £130,815 Not supplied £183,287 Not supplied £109,932 Not supplied £148,611 Not supplied £188,510 6 £234,016 16 £365,789
25 Cheshire East Council 178 £980,048 218 £1,316,385 141 £1,015,299 150 £1,040,758 165 £896,709 258 £1,187,920 262 £1,481,657 318 £1,637,470 319 £1,572,151 458 £2,547,985
26 Wiltshire Council 416 £2,580,000 518 £2,460,000 491 £2,200,000 363 £2,300,000 379 £2,200,000 368 £2,500,000 300 £2,000,000 307 £2,500,000 246 £2,000,000 229 £2,000,000
27 Manchester City Council Not supplied £4,694,000 835 £5,335,000 658 £2,845,000 712 £3,400,000 609 £3,344,000 613 £3,695,000 790 £3,541,000 875 £4,606,000 1155 £6,899,000 1085 £8,190,000
28 Coventry City Council 210 £1,854,130 263 £1,635,239 263 £1,770,010 273 £1,575,612 242 £1,246,723 247 £1,418,700 221 £1,421,003 195 £1,136,635 218 £1,438,245 209 £1,402,471
29 London Borough of Hounslow 173 £1,515,674 194 £1,117,191 181 £941,844 176 £904,271 210 £1,060,337 197 £1,425,675 185 £984,255 158 £1,129,260 128 £1,024,328 140 £1,477,556
30 Sheffield City Council 354 £2,006,858 306 £1,686,761 321 £1,892,807 362 £1,744,179 368 £1,712,075 359 £1,894,421 453 £2,685,340 421 £2,213,752 374 £2,087,600 359 £2,013,791
31 North Somerset Council Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied 160 £1,080,097 175 £984,791 242 £1,373,509 211 £1,238,609 173 £1,193,889 204 £1,380,130
32 Bristol City Council 315 £1,868,436 254 £1,429,210 336 £1,783,203 299 £1,667,650 414 £2,235,813 236 £1,584,204 317 £2,056,433 321 £2,035,781 240 £1,501,706 207 £1,598,949
33 Cheshire West & Cheshire Council 159 £1,772,175 184 £1,674,000 204 £1,983,000 170 £1,758,399 175 £1,957,000 158 £1,519,791 136 £1,552,228 190 £1,915,573 184 £2,028,750 138 £1,353,805
34 Sefton Council 196 £1,282,000 401 £2,738,000 276 £2,181,000 256 £1,755,000 286 £1,726,000 308 £1,772,000 296 £1,984,000 346 £2,474,000 231 £1,696,000 228 £1,580,000
35 London Borough of Bexley 155 £1,043,927 167 1,249,596,82 160 £1,057,962 165 £1,123,631 119 £1,111,061 170 £1,399,344 183 £1,362,957 217 £1,695,340 254 2,270,321,20 274 Approx. 2.7 million
36 Middlesborough Council Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied 275 £1,107,633 232 £1,068,163 268 £1,111,190 266 £1,307,487 245 £1,178,174 268 £1,407,142
37 Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council 222 £1,410,000 230 £1,448,100 174 £1,604,321 237 £1,716,326 211 £1,487,717 246 £1,516,881 263 £1,721,657 232 £3,223,486 159 £3,542,841 196 £3,862,195
38 Stoke City Council 223 £1,360,409 191 £1,133,335 206 £1,329,279 194 £1,146,517 160 £976,514 174 £1,210,947 146 £996,709 Not supplied Not supplied 207 £1,589,665 194 £1,395,443
39 Royal Borough of Greenwich 105 £1,162,000 99 £794,000 85 £954,000 70 £1,014,000 87 £890,000 78 £906,000 76 £874,000 67 £601,000 78 £605,000 65 £637,000
40 London Borough of Tower Hamlets 158 £708,148 195 £1,069,364 214 £1,137,574 175 £910,055 220 £1,380,712 209 £836,266 195 £770,360 252 £1,152,854 219 £1,473,187 240 £1,683,515
41 Merton Council 61 £778,785 46 £707,878 55 £737,760 95 £1,186,980 50 £611,244 42 £662,764 34 £427,403 64 £734,309 90 £1,005,118 66 £790,029
42 London Borough of Sutton 100 £643,000 48 £648,000 75 £608,000 42 £440,716 54 £676,766 81 £734,760 71 £670,696 70 £780,796 107 £804,915 109 £1,064,218
43 Brighton & Hove City Council 127 £1,219,053 160 £1,059,178 162 £1,098,185 149 £1,059,059 107 £962,826 179 £1,441,818 97 £1,179,617 222 £1,305,803 164 £1,175,429 253 £1,463,336
44 Sutton Council 37 £364,759 21 £422,500 38 £476,908 29 £548,745 31 £495,069 43 £542,046 56 £606,000 70 £887,824 69 £1,074,068 Not supplied Not supplied
45 Liverpool City Council 331 £3,693,000 435 £4,002,000 407 £4,075,000 283 £3,903,000 436 £4,098,000 370 £4,141,000 394 £3,991,000 513 £5,691,000 549 £5,633,000 587 £6,011,000
46 South Tyneside Council 242 £1,258,813 191 £855,879 121 £556,671 142 £560,557 118 £429,292 85 £841,964 62 £759,853 57 £694,001 48 £612,384 55 £651,737 See email for additional spend
47 London Borough of Lambeth 117 £527,103 249 £1,172,140 209 £604,753 209 £977,299 148 £606,422 129 £532,790 160 £476,717 165 £458,926 92 £300,394 138 £437,006
48 Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead 66 £556,953 88 £553,705 67 £536,558 83 £585,158 75 £355,286 89 £593,083 58 £501,446 64 £444,779 79 £638,082 81 £580,586
49 Enfield Council 173 £1,364,760 182 £1,568,954 174 £1,376,581 161 £1,230,697 163 £1,247,412 116 £1,055,302 145 £1,294,833 191 £1,836,917 180 £1,675,327 183 £1,757,476
50 Herefordshire Council 158 £849,707 212 £955,857 189 £905,014 168 £752,362 222 £1,103,538 149 £755,254 171 £836,212 180 £931,772 183 £965,655 Not supplied Not supplied
51 Bolton Council Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied 216 £1,803,767 228 £1,697,161 226 £1,958,894 222 £2,010,544 298 £2,509,192 300 £2,593,089
52 Oldham Council 165 Not supplied 136 Not supplied 149 Not supplied 209 Not supplied 160 £992,220 173 £962,303 153 £839,654 221 £1,360,075 212 £1,384,218 273 £1,779,167
53 Medway Council 264 £2,155,633 149 £1,627,673 136 £1,469,777 93 £1,143,674 125 £1,189,755 136 £2,106,461 105 £1,803,280 144 £1,818,748 139 £1,840,781 142 £1,797,371
54 North Tyneside Council 181 £990,105 228 £1,190,095 188 £899,599 137 £823,992 153 £915,224 147 £950,243 140 £859,604 110 £799,329 144 £895,445 178 £1,150,696
55 Kirklees Council 338 £3,097,000 337 £2,520,000 332 £2,282,000 327 £2,400,000 380 £2,569,000 388 £2,401,000 312 £2,664,000 363 £2,561,000 289 £2,264,705 426 £2,717,503
56 City of York Council 144 £873,759 162 £920,611 161 £851,761 132 £822,995 164 £945,884 132 £937,847 152 £1,019,240 160 £1,061,017 222 £1,799,035 274 £2,029,575
57 Isle of Wight Council Not supplied £1,010,861 125 £817,995 186 £957,489 225 £1,184,876 221 £1,281,836 233 £1,375,248 180 £968,904 230 £1,441,259 167 £1,129,290 188 £1,493,398
58 Northumberland County Council Not supplied Not supplied 329 £1,812,887 283 £1,443,271 402 £1,681,139 428 £2,185,064 369 £1,635,948 308 £1,739,584 504 £1,708,990 327 £1,601,144 341 £1,790,052
59 Peterborough City Council 334 £1,847,395 336 £1,734,466 317 £1,607,218 310 £1,707,495 201 £1,183,869 237 £1,386,858 286 £1,645,000 293 £1,702,401 232 £1,875,046 236 £1,980,101
60 Wirral Council 366 £1,698,391 418 £2,000,211 376 £1,829,086 568 £2,488,898 434 £2,115,836 409 £2,048,443 384 £1,702,179 288 £1,649,390 267 £1,969,000 Not supplied Not supplied
61 London Borough of Havering Not supplied Not supplied 134 £1,017,020 85 £720,350 101 £758,458 127 £840,540 111 £682,015 103 £713,072 138 £815,485 94 £648,157 72 £654,891
62 Salford City Council Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied 245 £1,410,975 244 £2,010,547 254 £1,790,953 330 £2,328,959 251 £2,330,599 232 £2,320,845 385 £3,179,180 507 £3,569,880
63 London Borough of Redbridge 116 £1,504,500 110 £2,000,333 100 £1,425,815 82 £1,242,248 47 £747,974 60 £675,133 59 £783,405 66 £975,729 59 £786,501 39 £634,094
64 Solihull Council Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied 176 £1,147,941 174 £1,268,082.00 164 £1,109,712 135 £803,549.00 106 £801,313 141 £1,255,671.00 104 £958,994 Not supplied Not supplied
65 Leicester City Council Not supplied Not supplied 158 £1,679,232 75 £409,242 213 £1,874,928 173 £1,352,342 236 £1,604,067 215 £1,455,596 254 £1,811,391 219 £1,734,184 220 £1,559,583
66 East Riding of Yorkshire Council Not supplied £1,369,223 Not supplied £1,268,398 Not supplied £1,287,409 Not supplied £1,271,861 1261 £1,271,498 1260 £1,486,521 1736 £1,718,617 1394 £1,398,877 1346 £1,375,981 2524 £2,536,954
67 Calderdale Council 236 Not supplied 245 £1,536,000 Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied Not supplied £929,473 392 £1,440,000 253 £1,059,786 155 £2,063,000 269 £2,275,034 234 £2,528,621
68 City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council 318 £3,340,270 320 £2,980,375 194 £1,894,639 187 £2,345,724 203 £2,018,038 247 £2,392,683 284 £3,287,577 344 £3,681,361 339 £3,950,894 385 £4,147,025
69 Richmond & Wandsworth Council 84 £962,040 104 £968,025 67 £621,918 74 £524,247 55 £457,928 47 £295,447 72 £602,749 83 £595,632 71 £616,246 127 £1,028,399
70 Stockport Council 256 £1,386,000 308 £1,417,000 237 £1,136,000 278 £1,013,000 228 £1,023,000 266 £1,096,000 180 £817,000 225 £1,102,000 194 £1,116,000 236 £1,822,000
71 Derby City Council 212 £1,273,624 212 £1,599,975 173 £1,407,691 207 £1,586,181 219 £1,803,632 220 £1,544,026 212 £1,270,813 216 £1,459,668 176 £842,609 222 £2,155,326
72 Bury Council 137 £885,591 132 £860,704 105 £525,012 119 £486,025 132 £718,700 133 £767,500 158 £834,419 130 £859,704 89 £521,659 125 £760,461
73 London Borough of Newham 188 £1,450,743 190 £1,343,145 149 £1,178,456 116 £1,001,532 115 £456,394 242 £1,793,605 149 £1,027,972 218 £1,414,839 160 £1,281,662 154 £1,570,505
74 Hull County Council 429 £2,180,000 415 £2,128,000 371 £1,645,000 468 £1,965,000 400 £1,734,000 342 £1,592,000 264 £1,476,000.00 346 £1,968,000 234 £1,302,000 196 £1,247,000
75 Leeds City Council 995 £7,000,000 1100 £7,000,000 974 £6,220,000 989 £6,298,668 962 £6,143,491 924 £6,244,621 838 £6,114,313.00 794 £5,963,586.00 882 £7,284,102.00 704 £6,818,379.00

U.K. Disabled Facilities Grants Infographic

U.K. Disabled Facilities Grants Infographic
U.K. Disabled Facilities Grants Infographic

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