Home adaptation grant: what the German care fund pays towards building work
One step fewer, a wider door, a shower without a rim: what the care fund contributes, how fast it must decide and what applies when several residents need care.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Grant for a bathroom, stairlift or doors
Grant from the fund
€4,180
| Cap | €4,180 |
| you pay | €3,320 |
For building work that makes care at home possible, makes it considerably easier or restores the most independent life possible, the German long-term care fund can pay a grant of up to €4,180 per measure (Wohnumfeldverbesserung, section 40(4) of Book XI of the Social Code, SGB XI). The entitlement starts at care grade 1 and is subsidiary, so it applies only where no other body is responsible. The Federal Ministry of Health gives widened doors, permanently installed ramps and stairlifts, a bathroom converted for care and furniture adapted to the individual as examples. Where several people with a care grade share a home, work on the shared space can receive €4,180 per person, at most €16,720 in total; with more than 4 entitled people that sum is split. A shower costing €7,500 thus leaves the family €3,320 to pay. The fund must decide within 3 weeks, or 5 with a nurse or the Medical Service involved; without a reasoned notice the grant counts as approved once the deadline passes.
What counts as a home adaptation
The law is worded openly: the fund can support measures that improve the individual living environment, for example technical aids in the household, where this makes care at home possible or considerably easier, or lets the person live as independently as possible again (section 40(4) SGB XI). It is a discretionary benefit and subsidiary to other schemes. The ministry also names preventing carers from being overstretched as an explicit aim (BMG, grants for home adaptation). Work that only spares a daughter from lifting can therefore count as much as work that lets a father shower alone.
| Project | How it is funded | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| widened door, fixed ramp, stairlift | grant up to €4,180 per measure | section 40(4) SGB XI |
| bathroom converted for care | grant up to €4,180 per measure | section 40(4) SGB XI |
| furniture made or rebuilt for the care situation | grant | section 40(4) SGB XI |
| care bed, positioning aids | technical care aid, usually lent | section 40(3) SGB XI |
| disposable gloves, bed pads | consumables allowance up to €42 a month | section 40(2) SGB XI |
| wheelchair prescribed by a doctor | health insurance | SGB V |
The line between this grant and care aids follows a simple rule of thumb: anything fixed to the home or changing its structure is an adaptation; anything that can be collected and set up elsewhere is an aid. The ministry describes eligible measures as those that may involve substantial changes to the fabric of the building and adds the fixed installation of certain technical aids.
What the grant covers at typical prices
| Project (assumed price) | Cost | Entitled people | Grant | You pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| grab rails and a wall-mounted shower seat | €900 | 1 | €900 | €0 |
| level-access shower instead of a bath | €7,500 | 1 | €4,180 | €3,320 |
| ramp and two widened doors, couple both with a care grade | €7,500 | 2 | €7,500 | €0 |
| bathroom and hall of a shared flat, four people with a care grade | €20,000 | 4 | €16,720 | €3,280 |
| same work, eight people with a care grade | €20,000 | 8 | €16,720 | €3,280 |
The family’s share depends almost entirely on two things: the price and the number of people with a care grade who benefit from the same work. For one person the cap is reached quickly. Comparing two quotes shows at once how much will be left above the grant, and that is the figure to budget for, whether you are on site or organising the work from abroad.
Several people with a care grade under one roof
Where several people with a care grade live in one home, the grant for work on the shared living space can reach €4,180 per person. The total per measure stops at €16,720; with more than 4 entitled residents it is shared out among their insurers. The ministry works this through for a shared flat with eight residents needing care, and our engine reaches the same result: €2,090 per person. Newly founded shared care flats can also receive a one-off start-up grant of up to €2,613 per person, at most €10,452 per flat (section 45g SGB XI). More on the shared-flat supplement page.
Deadlines and the fund’s review
The fund may have the need checked by a registered nurse or the Medical Service; the law refers to the rule for care aids. It must decide promptly, at the latest after 3 weeks, or after 5 weeks with such a review. If it cannot meet the deadline it must tell you in writing, in good time and with reasons. Without that notice the benefit counts as approved (section 40(7)). Because the deadline is short, waiting for the decision before work starts costs little time and tells the family in advance what it can count on.
Care aids: what you pay yourself
Your share in total
€38
| Consumables above the allowance | €13 |
| Co-payment for the technical aid | €25 |
Care grade 1 and building work
The adaptation grant is one of the benefits the law expressly grants at care grade 1 (section 28a SGB XI). It is particularly useful at that stage: a grab rail in the right place or a shower without a rim can prevent a fall that would otherwise speed up the move to a higher grade. Without a care grade there is no grant, so the first step is the assessment (applying for a care grade).
When the situation changes
A second grant is possible if the care situation has changed so that new measures become necessary. For example, a shower seat was enough at first, but two years later the father needs a stairlift because he can no longer manage the steps. The nurse who comes for the home advice visit is a good person to raise such a new need with early on.
Three mistakes that cost money
Building before the care grade is decided. The grant requires an established care grade. Anyone who books tradespeople while the assessment is still running takes the risk that no grade is awarded and the whole invoice stays with the family.
Planning an aid as building work. Some things relatives think of as an adaptation are really care aids, such as a care bed or positioning cushions. They come under a separate entitlement that does not touch the €4,180 cap. Keeping the two apart leaves more room for the actual building work.
Not mentioning shared use. If a ramp or a converted bathroom serves two people with a care grade, say so in the application. Only then does the fund calculate with the per-person limit rather than the single cap. Where spouses are insured with different funds, both applications should name the same measure and the same quote.
How to go about it
- Describe the need: what exactly no longer works in the home, and how would the change help?
- Get one or two written quotes; tenants also obtain the landlord’s written consent.
- Send the application with the quote to the care fund and note the date of receipt.
- If after 3 weeks there is neither a decision nor a reasoned notice, follow up and refer to section 40(7).
- Keep the decision letter and the final invoice; how and to whom the fund pays is set out in the decision.