Aids and Adaptations Policy

Riverside is committed to the delivery of aids and adaptations where they are necessary to enable customers, or members of their household, to enjoy a better quality of life in a physical and psychological environment.

To assist customers to live independently, whilst making the best use of Riverside’s assets.

Our policy aims to enable the provision of an inclusive aids and adaptations service, which actively engages with all customers inclusive of any characteristics protected by the Equality Act 2010.

The policy will assist Riverside to deliver the ‘Our Riverside Way’ values and ways of working of ‘We Care, We are Inclusive, We are Trusted.’

Additionally, we will endeavour to comply with the Regulator of Social Housing standards and regulatory framework which requires us to understand and respond to the diverse needs of our customers.

As a group-wide policy, this document has been the subject of consultation with customers, board members, employees and staff groups and sets out to reflect their requirements and priorities. The policy has also undergone an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA).

Riverside will endeavour to:

• Provide clear information relating to our aids and adaptations process, which is available to customers, their relatives and/or carers.
• Process and install reasonable requests for minor aids and adaptations within published timescales.
• Support and facilitate our customers in obtaining suitable alternative housing where a transfer is considered to be the best provision in line with Occupational Therapist (OT) recommendations.
• Manage and allocate existing adapted properties efficiently to ensure that the impact on customers of the adaptations process is kept to a minimum.
• Approve adaptations which are reasonable, practicable and supported by an OT. Where applicable, we will work with local authorities to secure the required funding for major adaptations and keep the customer informed on the progress.
• Work in partnership with other agencies to maximise available resources and optimise funding available through the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) and ensure those resources are prioritised appropriately in line with best practice.
• Work wherever possible and/or relevant, in partnership with other agencies such as health authorities, commissioning bodies, or local authorities in order to meet authority-wide or sub-regional health/disability targets.
• Design new build properties to the specific requirements of customers where possible and appropriate.
• Ensure that appropriate servicing contracts are in place for any relevant equipment such as, but not exclusive to, track hoists, stair lifts and through floor lifts.
• Evaluate all requests for adaptations which are made on the basis of faith or cultural requirements, making suitable adjustments where reasonable and practicable.
• Make reasonable adjustments for customers (and members of their household) to remove barriers in accessing our aids and adaptations service. This may include adjustments to our processes, how we communicate, and how we deliver appointments and inspections. When deciding what is reasonable, we will take account of effectiveness, practicality, cost and the level of disruption. We will record agreed adjustments and apply them consistently when we provide this service. Our aim is to prevent customers with specific needs being placed at a substantial disadvantage when requesting, receiving, or using aids and adaptations.

To achieve this, Riverside aim to:

Adopt clear strategies:

• Devise a group wide operational procedure guide to enable front line staff to manage the requirements of our customers.  
• Utilise a statistical model built on historic delivery data to ensure that budgets are available within our business plan for adaptations, with provisions aligned to an ever-increasing aging population.
• Develop and implement a model to enable local and departmental action planning.
• Put in place appropriate resources to deliver our objectives.

Use information and analysis to drive strategy and action:

• Carry out equality analysis on all policies and significant change programmes to ensure they deliver our equality objectives.
• Utilise data collected within our stock condition surveying programme to ensure adapted properties are recorded within our stock condition database.
• Collect, review, and measure data on a regular basis so that it informs us of our performance in relation to Aids and Adaptations including lettings, complaints and satisfaction.
• Summarise the data gathered, within a demographic context where relevant, and report to Executive Directors and Group Board with appropriate recommendations to support assurance and management of risk.  
• Provide a full explanation of why information is collected and what we use it for, treating sensitive personal data confidentially and only for the purposes of promoting and ensuring equality and fairness and improving outcomes.  
• Take active steps to address any issues identified by the above reporting.

Embed best practice:  

• Ensure that colleagues receive regular, relevant and up-to-date training and support to enable them to champion and meet the organisation’s policy objectives.
• Support individual commitment to and ownership of Aids and Adaptations objectives by ensuring that appraisal conversations focus on the relevant behavioural competencies.
• Ensure that, through our procurement processes, we appoint partners and suppliers with a relevant, robust and compliant approach to Aids and Adaptations, as well as the wider Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) agenda.
• Provide guidance and support on all aspects of aids and adaptation provision by reference to our best practice group and sector experts.
• Ensure that we adopt sector best practice where applicable.

Have in place reasonable and accessible procedures and approaches to support the delivery of Aids and Adaptations:

• Make a clear commitment to stakeholders on how we meet their particular service requirements, provide clear information regarding the service to our customers in a format which reflects their diversity.
• Support effective communication by providing a range of contact methods, shaped to customers’ requirements, including effective use of digital services.
• Ensure that no current or potential customer is discriminated against by managing a request for Aids and Adaptations on less favourable terms due to a protected characteristic.
• Involve customers in shaping and scrutinising services.
• Have procedures in place to ensure our properties comply with our legal obligations to meet requirements arising from disability and other protected characteristics including Aids and Adaptations procedures for customers.
• Recognise that disability includes mental health and that not all disabilities are visible.

We can provide information in alternative formats on request, such as large print, Easy Read, audio, and translated versions. We can also offer communication support such as interpretation (including British Sign Language where available), text relay, and email or text updates.

Minor Adaptations:

Minor adaptations are usually non-complex adjustments or fixtures costing less than £1,000. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Grab rails
• Additional banister rails
• Floor to wall / ceiling rails
• Half steps
• Adjustments to door handles / window latches
• Lever taps
• Flashing doorbells
• Key safes

Internal Process:

For any minor adaptations which exceed the threshold allowance, the Aids & Adaptations Officer must seek approval from the Delivery and Performance Manager before proceeding.

Major Adaptations:

Major adaptations are usually major changes to a property which cost more than £1,000. These adaptations will need to be recommended by an Occupational Therapist, employed by a customer’s Local Authority. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Level-access showers
• Wet rooms
• Over bath showers
• Ramps
• Stair lifts / through-floor lifts
• Wash / dry toilets
• Specialist baths
• Extensions and/or Structural Alternatives

Funding:

In the first instance, wherever possible, Disabled Facilities Grants should be used in line with Local Authority agreements.

Major adaptations will usually be funded through a grant dependent on whether or not the customer meets the eligibility criteria and may be subject to passing a financial assessment.

Where the customer is unsuccessful in obtaining grant funding or where other funding cannot be sourced by the customer and evidence has been provided, we may, in exceptional circumstances, consider match funding or funding the whole cost of the adaptation, however each case will be considered on its own merits.

If the customer is funding the adaptation themselves, they will need to ask for permission before making any major adaptations to their home.

Reasons for Refusal:

An adaptation may be refused under the following circumstances:

• The occupancy is temporary in nature.
• It is not physically possible to alter the property in the requested way.
• It does not meet all planning and building regulation requirements, or there are legal or contractual reasons which prevents us from carrying out the adaptation; or it would present a health and safety risk.
• It reduces the bedroom count of a property.
• It is not for the customer or a member of their registered household.
• The need has not been identified by an Occupational Therapist.
• It would have an adverse impact on other residents.
• The property is in disrepair or scheduled to be demolished.
• The property is included in a regeneration scheme (unless the projected development scale is five years or more).

If we are unable to fulfil a customer’s adaptation request, we will provide a full explanation in writing and our Housing Team will support them to find a suitable alternative property if necessary.

Communal Area Adaptations:

A request for an adaptation located in a communal area will be considered on a case-by-case basis and will be led by the regional Aids & Adaptations Officer. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Handrails
• Ramps
• Stair lifts / through-floor lifts

Maintenance, Repairs and Service Charges:

There may be circumstances where the responsibility to repair and maintain certain equipment is not held by Riverside, however, the responsible party will be clearly outlined and communicated at the time of installation. In all other cases, once a product warranty has expired, Riverside will undertake necessary repairs and maintenance to an applicable adaptation that is considered to be part of the property’s fixtures and fittings.

A service charge may be applicable for mechanical adaptations to cover the cost to service and maintain the equipment where appropriate. Customer’s will be notified in the event that a service charge is applicable.

Completion Timeframes:

*Unless there are exceptional circumstances, and a particular case needs to be prioritised.

Local Authority: If the Local Authority is completing the work on behalf of the customer, it will be completed in accordance with the timeframes set by the Local Authority.

Landlord Applications:

We may, on occasion carry out Landlord Applications but this will be on a case-by-case basis and will be dependent on our agreement with the relevant local authority.

Removal of Existing Adaptations:

Properties will be allocated to customers based on their needs and any existing adaptations in a property will be taken into consideration. In some instances, customers may be allocated a property which include adaptations but may not be required, therefore, the following will apply:

If an adaptation is owned by the Local Authority, it is at their discretion as to whether or not they choose to remove it from the property. The customer should contact their local council if they require more information about this.

Critical Reactive Adaptations:

In the event that either an Occupational Therapist and/or Aids & Adaptation Officer has deemed a case to be critical due to an immediate risk to a customer’s health and safety, a case management approach will be adopted in order for an appropriate solution to be agreed. As such, the following stakeholders should be involved:

• Aids & Adaptations Officer
• Housing Officer
• Lettings Team
• Care & Support
• Local Authority

The above stakeholders should assess whether a more suitable property can be sourced to meet the urgent needs of the customer, or whether a temporary decant is required whilst the works are being undertaken as quickly as possible.