534.Section 224 extends eligibility for Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) to all those occupying caravans. DFG is a mandatory grant administered by local authorities under Part 1 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. It is available for adaptations that enable disabled occupants to live more independently in their homes.
535.The Regulatory Reform (Housing Assistance)(England and Wales) Order 2002 made DFG available to disabled occupants of "qualifying park homes". However, the definition of qualifying park home excluded some groups of caravan occupants from eligibility, including the majority of Gypsies and Travellers. Section 224 rectifies this situation by replacing the term "qualifying park home" with the term "caravan", and the term "pitch" with the term "land", in each place they appear in the 1996 Act. It also inserts a definition of "caravan" in the 1996 Act. A caravan is defined by reference to the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, which contains the standard definition of "caravan" used in various statutes dealing with caravans and caravan sites. The definition is that a caravan is a structure designed or adapted for human habitation that is capable of being moved. The section requires a local authority to be satisfied that the caravan was stationed on land in its area at the time the application was made.
536.This amendment does not apply to applications for DFG made before the date on which the section comes into force.
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