Home Adaptation Online Application Portal
The aging UK population has an increasing need to adapt their homes to live independently. Local Authorities in England spend over £500m on providing Disabled Facilities Grants (DFG) every year. This provides much needed adaptations such as level access showers, stairlifts and ramps to over 50,000 people, but the application process can be cumbersome – often involving multiple stages across various partner organisations.
The Smarter DFG project is a partnership between: Foundations (the National Body for Home Improvement Agencies in England), Iizuka Software, Leeds Becket University, and Heriot Watt University; with a target to deliver housing sector research, leading to published academic studies and a 'live' operational online DFG application internet-portal in December 2021.
The Project Partnership is developing a suite of five tools to streamline the Disabled Facilities Grant application and adaptation works process, specifically addressing:
1. Home assessment, where the disabled person will be able to investigate available the home adaptation solutions suitable for them, and what suggested associated changes they could make to their home.
2. Self-assessment for DFG, where the disabled person will be able to check their eligibility for a grant and make a direct referral to their local council.
3. A Dynamic Procurement System, which will enable contractors to provide instant prices for standard home adaptations.
4. A new online system for monitoring building works as they progress and quickly agreeing any changes.
5. A matching system for disabled people who would like to move to enable them to find already adapted homes provided by housing associations.
Smart Tools one and two will be developed as enhancements to the Adapt my Home website (www.adaptmyhome.org.uk). Adapt my Home enables an enquirer to obtain details of the DFG service at their local Council and who to contact for an assessment. It also provides advice and information about applying for a DFG, and an outline of the sorts of work which might be involved in carrying out adaptations to your home.
It is estimated these tools will shorten the application process for a home adaptation by up to 10 weeks.
The project commenced in July 2020, with funding from Innovate UK (the Central Government Business Innovation Department). UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is the national funding agency investing in science and research in the UK. Operating across the whole of the UK with a combined budget of more than £6 billion, UKRI brings together the 7 Research Councils, Innovate UK, and Research England.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Process
Following project kick-off on the 1st July 2020, the initial stage of the project has been the hosting of four Stakeholder workshops involving several Local Authorities and Home Improvement Agencies throughout the UK. Additional workshops are planned throughout development of the online-portal solution, and interested participants can join the mailing list and request an invitation to participate via the Foundations contact email: info@foundations.uk.com
Key Academic Participants
Leeds Beckett University
Dr Adekunle Oyegoke, a Reader at the School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing and Academic Lead for the project says, “The project is to address some of the challenges with the current disjointed and fragmented system leading to lengthy adaptation period and relatively small number of adaptations compared with potential demands in most local areas. Smarter DFG is a new automated and smart system which is a holistic-solution streamlining the process and consists of five-integrated components that support whole-lifecycle of adaptation process. Smarter DFG tools will eradicate delay, maximise throughput and increase efficiency. It will also improve turn-around time, greater adaptability, enable accurate information, performance monitoring and accountability.”
Dr Saheed Ajayi, a Reader in Digital Construction and Project Management and Co-investigator for the Smarter DFG project says, “The advancement in digital technologies is revolutionising every facet of life, including the built environment. Our Construction Informatics and Digital Enterprise Research Group is proud to be involved in the investigation, design and deployment of digital solutions that will speed up the process of housing adaptation for the aged and disabled people.”
Heriot-Watt University
Professor Stephen Ogunlana, the Chair of Construction Project Management at the School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society says, “The project will integrate the efforts of different stakeholders in a seamless way and enable them to work collaboratively towards responsive housing adaptations. This digital solution will make the adaptation process easier for all stakeholders.”
Iizuka Software
IIZUKA are a Birmingham based case management software developer, working with Central and Local Government, regulatory, housing, social care, education and third sector organisations who use Case Manager to manage their caseloads. Greg Hayes, Managing Director says, “We are proud to be recognised as leaders within the case management software community, and excited to be technical lead in development of a streamlined DFG funding application portal to revolutionise customer control of the adaptation process.”
Foundations
Foundations is the national body for home improvement agency and handyperson services. They provide support to more than 200 Home Improvement Agencies (HIAs) and handyperson service providers in England; covering over 80% of local authorities. One of their objectives is to develop the skills, capacity and efficiency of the home improvement agency sector, which is where their partnership with IIZUKA originated.
Paul Smith, Director says, “Since 2015 we’ve also been supporting local authorities to improve how they deliver Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs). The Smarter DFG online portal will transform the ease and efficiency for disabled consumers who want to apply for funding to adapt their home.”
Primary contact for further information on the project: pauls@foundations.uk.com