Scheme for Persons with Disability

Overview

The distance between a house and a home that works can be measured in fairly ordinary things: a step at the front door, a bath that cannot be climbed into, light switches set too high, a doorway an inch too narrow for a wheelchair. This scheme funds the changes that close that distance, so that a person with a disability can live independently, or semi independently alongside family, in their own home.

What sets it apart from a straightforward grant is the assessment behind it. Before any money is committed, an occupational therapist appointed by the Housing Authority visits and determines what would genuinely help, and a committee including representatives of the Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, occupational therapists and a medical doctor reviews the application on its merits. The funding follows the assessed need rather than a fixed shopping list.

Who This Is For

This is a scheme for adapting a home the applicant already lives in. Investment properties fall outside it.

Eligibility

Where the person with a disability is 18 or over, they are treated as the main applicant for means testing purposes. Where they are under 18, their parents or legal guardians take that role. A legal representative, parent, child or sibling of the person with a disability can also apply on their behalf.

The applicant must be the owner, a recognised tenant, a temporary or perpetual emphyteuta, or someone occupying the property with the owner's permission even without legal title. At least one member of a couple must be Maltese, an EU citizen, or hold refugee status, subsidiary protection, long-term residence status, or another specific authorisation recognised by the relevant authorities, and married couples who are not separated must apply jointly. The use of the premises for residential purposes must be lawful, and the dwelling itself must not be substandard or in a dangerous state.

One point worth flagging directly: earlier versions of this scheme required at least twelve continuous months of Malta residence before applying. The current Terms and Conditions don't restate that period for the main applicant category, only referring generally to being an "ordinary resident" in a narrower clause covering de facto separated applicants. Whether the twelve month requirement still applies more broadly isn't clear from this document alone and is worth confirming directly.

Only one application per person is normally considered for the same works. Where two people with different disabilities live in the same residence, more than one application is possible, provided the works needed by one are not also adequate for the other. Someone who has already benefited, either under this scheme or another disability adaptation scheme run by the Housing Authority or the Department for Social Accommodation, is not automatically barred from applying again, so long as the new works are different, the benefit of the earlier works is no longer relevant for reasons outside their control, and the combined total across everything received stays within the scheme's ceilings.

What It Offers

The proportion of the approved cost that is paid depends on income, and the bands are revised annually in line with the national minimum wage:

Eligible work covers access, including removing steps and split levels, ramps, widened doorways, automatic main door and garage openers, intercoms and video intercoms for people with hearing disabilities, flashing lights in rooms and lifts, stairway rails and colour contrasting non slip strips, and lowered window sills. Bathroom work covers removing a bath and installing a walk in shower, adapted toilets and sinks, grab rails, wall mounted shower stools, non slip flooring, emergency alarms and fixed bath hoists. Kitchen work covers height adjustable work surfaces and cupboards, non slip flooring and smoke alarms. Water and electrical work covers accessible long levered taps, lowered light switches, rocker type switches, emergency lighting and alarms. Building conversion or extension work is also eligible where the Authority's architect or occupational therapist justifies it as necessary for independent or semi independent living.

Those categories together are capped at €6,000. Lifts are funded separately and more generously: up to €5,000 for a stairlift or platform lift, up to €7,000 toward a shared lift in a private apartment block calculated according to the applicant's share, and up to €20,000 for a lift in a private house. The Chairman can also approve work falling outside these categories on the committee's recommendation.

Applying

Payment follows completion, on production of fiscal receipts and after an inspection confirming the work matches what was approved. Works must be finished within a year of the agreement being signed with the Authority. Nothing is paid for work carried out before approval, or where the permits required by law were not obtained. The committee or its representative can inspect the home both before and after the works, and separately, the Housing Authority reserves the right to carry out random checks on beneficiaries generally, both to confirm they're still living in the property the grant was given for and to verify the approved works were actually carried out.

Applications carry a €20 administrative charge, which is not refunded even if the application is rejected, plus a further charge covering the Authority's research on the applicant.

How to Apply

Forms are available from the Housing Authority's offices at 22 Pietro Floriani Street in Floriana, and from its Gozo branch at Office 5, Level 3, 74 George Borg Olivier Street in Victoria, or from the Housing Authority website. Where the applicant cannot attend in person for reasons connected to their disability, a relative may deliver the application instead, and may represent them at the final agreement with a power of attorney.

Living With The Conditions

The property must remain the beneficiary's ordinary residence for at least ten years from the final payment, and an owner cannot transfer it during that period other than on death. Transferring it, or ceasing to live there, means refunding the grant in full, though the Authority may consent to earlier vacation in exceptional circumstances to relieve hardship. One month's notice of any intended transfer is required. Where the assistance specifically funded a passenger lift in a private house, the Authority is also entitled to register a general hypothec over the property to secure repayment; that registration right is scoped to that one category rather than applying to the scheme generally.

Lifts and stairlifts carry their own tapered refund schedules if the property changes hands. A stairlift grant is refunded at 90 per cent within the first year, then 70, 50, 30 and 10 per cent across the following four years, with nothing owed after the fifth. A lift grant is refunded in full for the first ten years, then at 90, 70, 50 and 30 per cent through year fifteen, and at 10 per cent thereafter.

What Can Require Repayment

False declarations carry a fine equal to the entire subsidy received, a five year ban from every Housing Authority scheme, and the possibility of criminal proceedings.

Source & Verification

This summary draws on the Housing Authority's Scheme for Persons with Disability page and its full Terms and Conditions, cross checked clause by clause and last verified on 4 August 2026.

• Scheme page: https://housingauthority.gov.mt/scheme/scheme-for-persons-with-disability/
• Terms and Conditions (PDF): https://housingauthority.gov.mt/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DIS-Conditions-English-2022.pdf

Disclaimer: This information is provided for general awareness only and does not constitute financial or legal advice. Schemes are reviewed and amended periodically, so availability, amounts, deadlines and eligibility criteria may have changed since this page was last verified. Always confirm current details on the official Housing Authority scheme page before applying or making any decision.