The Disabled Facilities Grants (Maximum Amounts and Additional Purposes) (England) Order 2008
S.I. 2008/1189 · Made 28 April 2008
Housing, England
Made 28th April 2008
Laid before Parliament 30th April 2008
Coming into force 22nd May 2008
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 23(1)(l), 33 and 146 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996f1, makes the following Order:
Annotations to the whole text
Footnotes
- f1
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1996 c. 53. The powers conferred by sections 23(1)(l), 33 and 146 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (“the Act”) are exercisable, as respects England, by the Secretary of State. As respects Wales, these powers are now vested in the Welsh Ministers. They were previously transferred to the National Assembly for Wales by article 2 of the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/672; see the entry in Schedule 1 for the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. By virtue of paragraphs 30 and 32 of Schedule 11 to the Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32) the functions formerly exercisable by the National Assembly for Wales are now exercisable by the Welsh Ministers.
Contents
- 1Citation, commencement, application and interpretation
- 2Maximum amount of disabled facilities grant
- 3Purposes for which grant may be given
- 4Provisions ceasing to have effect in England
- Signature
- Explanatory note
1Citation, commencement, application and interpretation
This Order may be cited as the Disabled Facilities Grants (Maximum Amounts and Additional Purposes) (England) Order 2008 and shall come into force on 22nd May 2008.
This Order applies in relation to England only.
In this Order “the Act” means the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.
2Maximum amount of disabled facilities grant
Where a local housing authority must approve an application for disabled facilities grant by virtue of section 23(1) of the Act (grants: purposes for which grant must or may be given), the maximum amount which the authority may pay in respect of the application shall be £30,000.
3Purposes for which grant may be given
Subject to the provisions of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Act, an application for a disabled facilities grant must be approved where the application is for the purpose specified in paragraph (2).
The purposes are––
facilitating access to and from a garden by a disabled occupantf1; or
making access to a garden safe for a disabled occupant.
For the purposes of paragraph (2) “garden” means a garden belonging to, or usually enjoyed with, a dwellingf2, caravanf3 or flatf4 occupied by a disabled occupant and includes—
a balcony adjoining the dwelling of a disabled occupant;
a yard, outhouse or other appurtenance within the boundaries of the land in which the dwelling or caravan of a disabled occupant is situated and belonging to it or usually enjoyed with it;
a yard, outhouse or other appurtenance within the boundaries of the land in which is situated the building in which the dwelling or, as the case my be, flat, of a disabled occupant is situated and belonging to it or usually enjoyed with it; and
the land adjacent to the mooring of a disabled occupant’s qualifying houseboatf5.
If in the opinion of the local housing authority the relevant works are more or less extensive than is necessary to achieve a purpose set out in paragraph (2), they may, with the consent of the applicant, treat the application as varied so that the relevant works are limited to or, as the case may be, include such works as seem to the authority to be necessary for that purpose.
In this article “applicant” means the person making the application for a grant under Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Act.
4Provisions ceasing to have effect in England
Articles 2 and 3 of the Disabled Facilities Grants and Home Repair Assistance (Maximum Amounts Order) 1996f1 shall cease to have effect in relation to England.
Signature
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
Kay Andrews
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Department for Communities and Local Government
28th April 2008
Explanatory note
(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order (which applies in relation to England only) prescribes the maximum amount of mandatory disabled facilities grant that a local housing authority can be required to pay under Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (“the Act”). By article 2, the maximum amount is £30,000.
Section 23(1) of the Act specifies the purposes for which, subject to the provisions of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Act, an application for a grant must be approved. Article 3 of this Order specifies additional purposes for which an application for a grant must be approved, subject to the provisions of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Act being satisfied. The specified purposes are for facilitating access by the disabled occupant to and from a garden (which is defined in article 3(3)), and for making the access to a garden safe for the disabled occupant.
Articles 2 and 3 of the Disabled Facilities Grants and Home Repair Assistance (Maximum Amounts Order) 1996, which extends to England and Wales, set the maximum amount of mandatory disabled facilities grant at £25,000 in relation to England. Article 3 of this Order provides for those articles to cease to have effect in relation to England.
A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.