Home lift grants in Scotland: how the Scheme of Assistance works

Our main grants guide covers the headline rule. This page covers the law, who pays for each tenure, and what three councils actually publish.

The legal framework

Part 2 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006

Section 71 lets a council provide assistance for the “adaptation of a house for a disabled person to make it suitable for the accommodation, welfare or employment of that person”. Section 73 turns that into a duty where the house is, or is likely to become, a disabled person’s only or main residence. “Assistance” can be a grant, a loan, a guarantee or advice, and section 72 requires each council to publish a statement of when it gives each. That statement is the council’s “Scheme of Assistance”.

The 2008 Regulations: when it must be a grant, and how much

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 (Scheme of Assistance) Regulations 2008 (SSI 2008/406) settle two questions that matter for a lift.

Regulation 3 says assistance must be a grant where the work is structural, or makes other permanent changes to the house, and is essential to the disabled person’s needs. Extensions and separate buildings are excluded. A through-floor lift, which needs an aperture cut through the floor, is structural work.

Regulation 4 sets the minimum grant at 80% of the approved expense, rising to 100% where the applicant (or certain connected people) receives a listed benefit. The version of Regulation 4 on legislation.gov.uk is the original 2008 text, and it lists four: income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, the guarantee credit of pension credit, and income-related employment and support allowance. Universal Credit is not in that text, yet Citizens Advice Scotland, Glasgow City Council, Fife Council and the Scottish Government’s own guidance for families of disabled children (updated 8 November 2023) all list it as a 100% benefit. If you claim it, ask the council to confirm your percentage in writing.

Is there a means test?

Not in the English sense. Section 79 of the Act makes the grant the greater of two figures: the approved expense less the applicant’s contribution, or the minimum percentage. Regulation 5 leaves the council to assess that contribution. The effect is that your income can raise your grant above 80% but cannot push it below. Some councils “top up” the 80%, usually on a means-tested basis, according to the Scottish Government’s homeowner guide.

Is there a maximum grant?

The Scottish Government’s homeowner guide says: “There is no upper limit to the cost of the work, or for the amount of grant which can be given.” Section 76 lets Ministers cap the approved expense by order, and councils can limit it in their own statement, but we found no national cap in force.

Conditions after the work

Section 83 attaches conditions to the house for 10 years: it must be used as a private dwelling, an owner or their family may only occupy it as their only or main residence, and it must be kept in good repair. Section 86 lets a council demand repayment if a condition is broken. There is no fixed repayment sum like the English local land charge in our OT and DFG process guide.

Work started before approval

Under section 75(4)(b) a council can approve an application for work already begun only if there were good reasons for starting early. Do not sign an installer’s order before the decision is in writing.

Who pays depends on your tenure

Private tenants need consent first. Landlords cannot unreasonably withhold it but can attach conditions, such as removing the adaptation when you leave.

Council tenants are funded from the council’s own housing account, which the 2025 University of Stirling and Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) report What’s next for adaptations? notes has no ring-fenced Scottish Government support.

Housing association tenants are funded through what the sector calls “Stage 3” money, now the Registered Social Landlord Adaptations Programme. The report says the budget was frozen for six years before an uplift, and in May 2025 Scottish Housing News reported it rising to £20.9 million from about £8.2 million. The report’s verdict: access “is shaped less by individual need and more by tenure, geography, and funding pathways”.

Who assesses: HSCPs and occupational therapists

Every route starts with a needs assessment, usually by an occupational therapist (OT) in the Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP). The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Regulations 2014 list the council’s section 71(1)(b) power, “only in so far as it relates to an aid or adaptation”, among the functions that must be delegated to the integration authority. So the social care front door takes the referral, the HSCP’s OT decides whether the work is essential, and the council’s housing team processes the grant.

The Scottish Government’s own 2022 draft guidance, Community equipment and housing adaptations, is blunt about this system. It says the Scheme of Assistance “is resource intensive for services, inhibits access by creating a financial barrier, is not person-centred”, and floats 100% funding for owner-occupiers instead. The consultation closed in June 2022 and the Scottish Government said in January 2023 it aimed to publish revised guidance that month. On 26 September 2026 the gov.scot version is still titled “draft guidance”, the 2025 Stirling/SFHA report still calls for the review to be completed, and we found no 2025 or 2026 replacement.

How three councils describe it

Our check of council websites on 26 September 2026 found the published detail varies widely.

Glasgow

Glasgow City Council’s page states that, because of budget pressures and demand, only Critical priority (P1) cases are currently being considered. Those get 80%, or 100% on a qualifying benefit (Universal Credit is on its list), and the grant excludes extra living space other than a bathroom or wet room. Referrals go through Social Care Direct on 0141 287 0555, and work is run by a Managed Adaptations Service operated by Assisted Living (City Building LLP). The 2022 draft guidance names Glasgow and West Dunbartonshire as having dropped the grant application for stairlifts.

Edinburgh

The City of Edinburgh Council’s adapting-your-home page explains the OT assessment (anyone over 16 with significant difficulties can be referred, through Social Care Direct on 0131 200 2324) but gives no grant percentage, no benefit list and nothing on lifts. If you live in Edinburgh, ask for the council’s current Scheme of Assistance statement.

Fife

Fife publishes the most. Its major adaptations page lists stairlifts and internal wheelchair lifts as adaptations, recommends a grant of “at least 80%” for private homes, and will not fund an adaptation where equipment would do. Its Scheme of Assistance (2022, updated March 2026) lists Universal Credit as a 100% benefit, sets out the 10-year conditions and says grants follow a Health and Social Care assessment “on a priority basis”. Fife’s lift buying is visible too: our research on what councils pay found its framework for through-floor lifts, external lifts and hoists awarded at £1.4 million in 2021 and £2.8 million in 2025.

Scotland against the rest of the UK

What each English council has to spend this year is in our DFG allocations table.

Care and Repair, VAT and the gap

Care and Repair

Care and Repair Scotland says its local services give older and disabled homeowners independent advice on adapting a home, in 28 of Scotland’s 32 council areas. Where one exists, it can help with the paperwork and quotes.

VAT

Zero-rating is UK-wide. HMRC says you will not pay VAT on a lift installed to help you move between floors because of a disability; give the supplier a written eligibility declaration before you are invoiced.

The gap

The site’s 2026 price band for an installed through-floor lift is £13,000 to £28,000. Illustration: if a council approves £20,000 for a lift and you are not on a listed benefit, the grant is at least £16,000 and your share is up to £4,000, less any council top-up. UK Homelifts does not sell, supply or install lifts.

Where the information is patchy

The national guides for each tenure date from May 2011. We found no published Scottish waiting times; the Stirling/SFHA report quotes an OT saying some referrals “haven’t even been looked at after three months”.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a Disabled Facilities Grant in Scotland?

No. Scotland uses the Scheme of Assistance under Part 2 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006. For essential structural adaptations, including through-floor lifts, the council must pay a grant of at least 80% of the approved cost, or 100% if you receive a listed benefit. An occupational therapist from the Health and Social Care Partnership assesses the need.

Which benefits get a 100% adaptations grant in Scotland?

The 2008 Regulations list income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, the guarantee credit of pension credit and income-related employment and support allowance. Citizens Advice Scotland, Glasgow City Council and Fife Council also list Universal Credit, and the Scottish Government’s guidance for families does the same. Confirm with your council which benefits it accepts before you rely on full funding.

Is there a maximum grant for a home lift in Scotland?

There is no statutory cap, and the Scottish Government’s homeowner guide says there is no upper limit to the cost of the work or the grant. Councils can still limit the approved expense in their own Scheme of Assistance and ration by priority. Glasgow, for example, currently considers only critical cases.

I rent from the council or a housing association. Do I apply for a grant?

No. Council tenants have essential adaptations arranged and paid for by the council as landlord. Housing association tenants have them arranged by the association, which draws on a Scottish Government adaptations budget or its own money. You still need an occupational therapist’s assessment, and both landlords set priorities within limited budgets.

Is the Scottish grant means-tested?

The minimum 80% is not reduced by income. The council assesses an applicant’s contribution, but the grant is always the higher of the approved cost minus that contribution or the minimum percentage. So a low income can raise your grant above 80%, and some councils top up on a means-tested basis, but a higher income cannot take you below 80%.

Can I start work on a home lift before the grant is approved?

You should not. The council can only approve an application for work already begun if there were good reasons for starting early, so letting work start before written approval risks losing the grant altogether. Get the decision in writing first, and give the installer your VAT eligibility declaration before you are invoiced.

UK Homelifts is an independent information site. We do not sell, supply, install or service lifts and are not affiliated with any manufacturer. This page is general information, not legal, financial or benefits advice. Check your own circumstances with your council, Health and Social Care Partnership or an adviser such as Citizens Advice Scotland.