Assistance on lifts extended

The Housing Authority has announced an extension of the assistance offered to persons with a disability under Scheme 7.

Under this scheme persons with a disability or families with a disabled member living with them can apply for assistance for adaptation works, including general alterations and the installation of stair lifts and lifts.

While over the past year assistance for the installation of lifts was granted under this scheme only to persons living in privately owned homes, the Housing Authority has decided to grant assistance also to residents of privately owned apartments.

Commenting on this change the chairman of the Housing Authority, Marisa Micallef, said: "It is essential that more of our homes are made accessible, including homes in the private sector. Many blocks of flats, government and privately owned are still without a lift and we hope that this grant will go some way towards encouraging more people to install a lift."

The grant for which residents of privately owned apartments can now apply under scheme 7 is means-tested and varies, depending on the number of units in the respective housing block. The maximum granted amounts to Lm2,500 (€5,823.43), a sum that divides itself into Lm2,000 (€4,658.75) for the lift installation and Lm500 (€1,164.69) for the construction of the shaft.