Home repairs

Disrepair Grant Assistance Fund

The Disrepair Grant Assistance Fund is aimed at helping owner occupiers in the borough meet the Decent Homes Standard, this means a property must be in a reasonable state of repair, have reasonably modern facilities and services, provide a reasonable degree of thermal comfort and not have a Category 1 Hazard under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).

Grants may be available if your property is found to have a Category 1 Hazard under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).  The HHSRS allows the council to assess your home and its condition.  It is a risk-based assessment approach and considers the effects of hazards in and around the property to its occupiers.  The hazards are rated according to severity - Category 1 hazards are the most serious and once identified the council has a duty to act.

The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) assess against 29 hazards which include for example -

• Damp and mould growth
• Excess cold
• Falls associated with stairs and steps
• Structural collapse and falling elements

Full list and guidance can be found here.

If your home has a category 1 Hazard identified then assistance to address the hazard may be available subject to an affordability assessment, this will help us determine the level of assistance you can receive.  The maximum overall grant which a homeowner can receive is £5,000.

Where a Category 1 Hazard is identified and the affordability assessment determines that the homeowner can afford to carry out the work without any grant assistance and the homeowner refuses to do this, then the council will consider enforcement action, and in extreme cases, this may lead to prosecution.

If you think that your home may have a Category 1 Hazard, you may be entitled to access funding to carry out the repairs under our Disrepair Grant Assistance scheme.

For more information or to arrange a home survey please contact us on: 01772 625 625

Email: strategichousing@southribble.gov.uk

Write to us at: Strategic Housing, Civic Centre, West Paddock, Leyland PR25 1DH.