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  1. Home
  2. People with disabilities
  3. Home and housing choices
  4. Your home, adaptations and equipment

Moving house if you have a disability

If you want to move house, you should plan ahead to make sure you receive the services and support you're used to when you move. Support services are often delivered differently in different places.

Housing Executive or housing association home

Most Housing Executive and housing association tenants are allowed to transfer from or exchange their property. If you are already a tenant of the Housing Executive or a housing association and you wish to move, you can apply for a transfer. You will need to fill in a Housing/Transfer application form.

  • Transferring to a different area or exchanging your home

Your landlord will assess your housing needs and place you on the list for a transfer to other accommodation owned by any of the participating landlords within your areas of choice.

Asking for a transfer will not normally be considered where:

  • your existing tenancy is less than two years old
  • you have arrears of four weeks or more
  • the existing property is not in a good state of repair or you own recoverable charges for repairs
  • you are guilty of any other serious break of the tenancy conditions
  • Home exchange and mobility schemes

Disabled Facilities Grants

A Disabled Facilities Grant from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive helps to adapt the home of a person with a disability. An occupational therapist will assess what adaptations are needed.

Owner-occupiers, landlords or private tenants can get help to carry out adaptations, if there is a person with a disability living in the house. An occupational therapist must make the recommendation to the Housing Executive.

  • Disabled Facilities Grant

Your local health and social care trust

Care and support services

If you receive any care or support services (including equipment) or direct payments to arrange your own care and services, you should contact your local trust and let them know you're moving.

Your local trust will then set up the same support and services you have been receiving, on a short-term basis, so that there is no gap in your care and support services when you move.

Later, your local trust will do their own health and social care assessment and decide what services and equipment you're entitled to, according to their own standards.

If you move without telling your local trust, there may be a delay before you can receive any services.

  • Health and Social Care Trusts
  • Health and social care assessments

Employing a professional carer

Moving to a new place may also mean you have to employ a new personal assistant.

  • Employing a professional carer or personal assistant

Equipment

If you have any disability equipment in your home from your local trust, this is usually on loan and you must return it when you move.

The more notice you give social services of your move, the sooner your new social services team will be able to give you replacement equipment.

Blue badges, bus and community transport

The Blue Badge scheme runs throughout the UK. If you have a Blue Badge that entitles you to disabled parking benefits, you don't have to apply for a new Blue Badge when you move to a different area. If you're moving outside Northern Ireland you should contact your new local council about six weeks before your Blue Badge expires so they can issue a new one.

If you have a free bus pass where you live now, you should also qualify for a bus pass in the new location. Some councils also have other concessions for local residents. You can find out what the rules are from your new council.

  • The Blue Badge scheme
  • Buses and bus passes

Wheelchair Service wheelchairs

If you have received a wheelchair from the Department of Health's Wheelchair Service, the wheelchair should go with you when you move. Depending on what type of agreement you have, the Wheelchair Service in your new area may take over the maintenance of your wheelchair.

  • Wheelchairs - introduction  

Financial support

Your benefits

If you receive Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance or Incapacity Benefit, these will not be affected if you move house, unless you move into residential care (like a care home or hospice).

You must tell your local Jobs and Benefits office about any change of address. For Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance, you can also call the Disability Benefits Helpline.

  • Jobs and Benefits offices
  • Disability and Carers Service

Housing Benefit

If you cannot move into a new rented home straight away because you're waiting for it to be adapted to meet your needs, and the Housing Executive agrees that the delay is reasonable, you can get Housing Benefit towards your rent on the new property for up to four weeks before you move in.

If you are still paying rent on your old home during this time, you can get Housing Benefit on both properties for those four weeks. 

This applies only if you qualify for Housing Benefit.

  • Apply for Housing Benefit / Rate Relief 

Leaving home to study in higher education

If you are leaving home to start college or university study, you may be able to get Disabled Students' Allowances and other financial help.

  • Support at college or university

More useful links

  • Moving to your new home
  • Buying, selling and renting a home
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Your home, adaptations and equipment

  • Adaptations to a Housing Executive property
  • Adapting your home
  • Disabled Facilities Grants
  • Equipment for use about the home
  • Independence at home
  • Moving house if you have a disability

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Comments or queries about angling can be emailed to anglingcorrespondence@daera-ni.gov.uk 

If you have a comment or query about benefits, you will need to contact the government department or agency which handles that benefit.  Contacts for common benefits are listed below.

Carer's Allowance

Call 0800 587 0912
Email 
dcs.incomingpostteamdhc2@nissa.gsi.gov.uk

Discretionary support / Short-term benefit advance

Call 0800 587 2750 
Email 
customerservice.unit@communities-ni.gov.uk

Disability Living Allowance

Call 0800 587 0912 
Email dcs.incomingpostteamdhc2@nissa.gsi.gov.uk

Employment and Support Allowance

Call 0800 587 1377

Jobseeker’s Allowance

Contact your local Jobs & Benefits office

Personal Independence Payment

Call 0800 587 0932

If your query is about another benefit, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

Comments or queries about the Blue Badge scheme can be emailed to bluebadges@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk or you can also call 0300 200 7818.

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