Stairlift Grants in Scotland

We are an independent information site. We do not sell or install stairlifts, and we have no connection to any council. Rules are quoted from the sources named at each point, and your own council’s scheme of assistance sets the local detail.

Key facts

• Part 2 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 sets up the scheme of assistance. Section 71(2) includes adapting a house for a disabled person among the purposes, and section 73 makes assistance mandatory for that purpose where the house is or will be the disabled person’s main residence.
• Citizens Advice Scotland states the minimum level of grant is 80 per cent of the eligible cost, and that a local authority must not apply a fixed upper limit on the cost of adaptation works covered by a grant.
• The grant rises to 100 per cent if you receive Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, the guarantee credit part of Pension Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit.
• A stairlift counts as an adaptation to the property, not loose equipment. West Lothian Council’s scheme of assistance guidance puts it plainly: a stair lift is fixed to the stair treads and is considered an adaptation to the property.
• Shelter Scotland states that if you rent from the council or a housing association, your landlord should carry out adaptations recommended by social work free of charge.
• Contact, the charity for families with disabled children, states that councils in Scotland normally provide essential equipment or adaptations costing under £1,500 free of charge. A stairlift usually costs more than that, which is why the grant route matters.
• The route in is a care needs assessment from your council’s social work team, which mygov.scot directs you to request, and the assessment visit happens in your home.

Who this page is for

Anyone in Scotland who needs help paying for a stairlift, whether they own their home, rent privately, or rent from a council or housing association, and the family members sorting it out for them. It also corrects a specific problem: most stairlift funding pages describe the English system, and if you have been reading about a £30,000 cap and a means test on your savings, little of that applies in Scotland.

It is not a guide to the hardware. Our types of stairlift guide covers what exists, and our prices guide covers what things cost.

How Scotland differs from England

The two systems ask different questions. England’s Disabled Facilities Grant asks how much money you have, means-tests your income and savings over £6,000, and caps the grant at £30,000. Scotland’s scheme of assistance asks what the work costs, pays at least 80 per cent of it whoever you are, checks your benefits, not your bank balance, for the rest, and is barred from applying a fixed cap.

Both systems share the thing that matters most: the assessment comes first, and funding follows the assessment, not the retailer’s quote.

The route, step by step

Ask for the assessment

Contact your local council’s social work team and ask for a care needs assessment, saying the stairs are the problem. mygov.scot describes what happens next: a social care professional visits you at home, talks through your situation and what help you need, and the outcome goes into a care plan. Shelter Scotland describes the occupational therapist’s part of it: they meet you in your home and ask you to perform everyday tasks to see what kind of help you need. Our guide to what an occupational therapist does covers the visit, and the assessment costs you nothing.

The recommendation decides the route

If the assessment recommends equipment or a minor adaptation, councils in Scotland normally provide items costing under £1,500 free of charge. A stairlift sits above that line and is treated as an adaptation to the property, so for owners it goes down the grant route, and for council and housing association tenants it goes to the landlord.

Owners: applying for the grant

The grant covers a minimum of 80 per cent of the eligible cost of the works you have been assessed as needing. If you receive Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, the guarantee element of Pension Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit, it covers 100 per cent. The council must not apply a fixed upper limit, so a complex curved installation is assessed on its cost, not squeezed under a national cap. Apply through your council, which publishes its scheme of assistance and application forms; the occupational therapist usually helps with the application, and in West Lothian’s version of the scheme the OT also visits after completion to check the adaptation does what it should.

Council and housing association tenants

Your landlord should carry out adaptations recommended by social work free of charge. Start with the same care needs assessment, and the recommendation goes to your landlord.

Private tenants

You need your landlord’s permission for changes that affect the structure of your home, and Shelter Scotland states they can only refuse if they have a good reason. Citizens Advice Scotland notes that private tenants can apply for the grant in some circumstances, so raise your tenure with the council at assessment stage and ask how their scheme handles it. Our guide for tenants covers the conversation with the landlord.

What it means in pounds

Our UK Stairlift Price Index puts the median advertised price of a new straight stairlift at £1,995 and a new curved stairlift at £4,395, from 73 advertised prices across 25 sellers captured on 20 August 2026. Against those figures, the Scottish scheme looks like this: on qualifying benefits the assessed cost is covered in full, and otherwise your maximum share is 20 per cent, which is roughly £400 on a median straight installation and £880 on a median curved one, assuming the assessed cost matches the advertised price. Your actual figures come from the council’s assessment of the work you need, not from advertised prices.

Two costs stay yours either way. West Lothian’s guidance is explicit that after the initial manufacturer’s or contractor’s guarantee, maintenance costs are your responsibility, and that removal and reinstallation later fall to the applicant. Annual servicing on the open market typically runs £80 to £180.

VAT relief may also apply to a private purchase. HMRC’s VAT Notice 701/7 provides for zero-rating of qualifying goods for a person who is chronically sick or disabled, on a written declaration your installer handles.

Drawbacks and things to know before you start

The percentage is of the assessed cost, not of whatever a retailer quotes. The council grants against the work you have been assessed as needing, so start with the assessment, not a signed order form. If you buy first and apply second, you should expect nothing.

Waiting times vary by council and are not published nationally. Ask your council’s social work team what the current wait looks like for assessment and for adaptations, and say so if the situation is urgent.

Repeat funding is restricted. In West Lothian’s scheme the same adaptation cannot be grant-funded twice within ten years, with limited exceptions, and other councils apply similar rules. Worth knowing if you are replacing an ageing lift.

The scheme funds need, not preference. If the assessment concludes a cheaper measure meets your needs, that is what gets funded. Shelter Scotland gives the stairlift itself as the example of the more reasonable way to meet a need compared with bigger works, which cuts in your favour for a stairlift, and against you if what you wanted was an extension.

If the grant route fails or is too slow, the fallbacks are the same as everywhere: a reconditioned lift, renting, or charitable help, and our guide to charities that help with stairlifts covers who to ask.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a stairlift grant in Scotland?

Yes, through your council’s scheme of assistance, not the Disabled Facilities Grant. After a free care needs assessment, an owner whose assessment recommends a stairlift gets a grant of at least 80 per cent of the assessed cost, and 100 per cent with qualifying benefits.

Does the Disabled Facilities Grant exist in Scotland?

No. The DFG covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland’s system is the scheme of assistance under Part 2 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, and it works differently: a percentage of cost with no fixed cap, where England means tests a grant capped at £30,000.

Which benefits get the full 100 per cent?

Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, the guarantee credit part of Pension Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit, as listed by Citizens Advice Scotland. The benefits check replaces England’s income and savings means test.

Is there a maximum grant?

No fixed one. Citizens Advice Scotland states that a local authority must not apply a fixed upper limit on the cost of adaptation works covered by a grant. The limit is the assessed cost of the work you need.

I rent from the council. Do I apply for the grant?

No. Shelter Scotland states your landlord should carry out adaptations recommended by social work free of charge. Ask for the care needs assessment first, and the recommendation goes to your landlord. The same applies to housing association tenants.

Can I just buy a stairlift and claim the money back?

Do not count on it. The grant is for work you have been assessed as needing, so the assessment comes first. If you can afford to buy privately and want to skip the process, that is a choice, but make it knowingly instead of assuming a refund follows.

Who maintains a grant-funded stairlift?

You do, once the initial guarantee ends. West Lothian’s guidance states maintenance costs after the initial guarantee period are the owner’s responsibility. Budget £80 to £180 a year for servicing.

Next steps

Ring your council’s social work team and ask for a care needs assessment, saying the stairs are the concern and mentioning any of the qualifying benefits you receive. Ask two questions while you are on the phone: what the current waiting time is, and whether their scheme of assistance treats a stairlift as an adaptation, so you know which route your case takes. Keep the retailer conversations until after the assessment, then get three quotes as usual.

Related guides

• Stairlift grants
• Occupational therapist assessments
• Charities that help with stairlifts
• Grants for tenants and council housing
• Stairlift prices
• Types of stairlift
• Reconditioned stairlifts
• What an occupational therapist does

Sources

• Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, Part 2, scheme of assistance for housing purposes, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2006/1/part/2, accessed 26 September 2026.
• The scheme of assistance for house repairs and adaptations, Citizens Advice Scotland, https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland/housing/home-repairs-improvements-and-adaptations-s/housing-grants-and-loans-s/, accessed 26 September 2026.
• Help to pay for adaptations, Shelter Scotland, https://scotland.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/paying_for_adaptations/, accessed 26 September 2026.
• Getting home adaptations, Shelter Scotland, https://scotland.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/adaptations/, accessed 26 September 2026.
• How to apply for care equipment or home adaptations, mygov.scot, https://www.mygov.scot/care-equipment-adapt-home/how-to-apply, accessed 26 September 2026.
• Scheme of Assistance grants, your questions answered, West Lothian Council, https://www.westlothian.gov.uk/media/49260/Scheme-of-Assistance-FAQ/pdf/FAQ_-_SOA_Scheme_of_Assistance.pdf, accessed 26 September 2026.
• Aids, equipment and adaptations, Contact, reviewed 8 May 2026, https://contact.org.uk/help-for-families/information-advice-services/social-care/aids-equipment-and-adaptations/, accessed 26 September 2026.
• Reliefs from VAT for disabled and older people (VAT Notice 701/7), HMRC, last updated 31 December 2020, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/reliefs-from-vat-for-disabled-and-older-people-notice-7017, accessed 26 September 2026.
• UK Stairlift Price Index, Stairlift Guru, capture of 20 August 2026, https://stairliftguru.co.uk/stairlift-prices/uk-stairlift-price-index/

How we are funded

We do not sell or install stairlifts. Quotes go to UK suppliers. If you buy a stairlift from a supplier we introduced you to, that supplier pays us a fee. Requesting quotes is free and we are not paid for the request itself. Stairlift Guru is published by Whito Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (number 10918465), and we have no ownership link to any supplier.

How to cite this page

Stairlift Guru, “Stairlift Grants in Scotland”, stairliftguru.co.uk, reviewed September 2026. Grant rules are quoted from the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, Citizens Advice Scotland, Shelter Scotland and named council guidance, each attributed at the point of use.

Last reviewed: September 2026. Editor: Stairlift Guru Editorial Team.