Over Easter we will close for general enquiries and non emergency repairs at 5pm on Thursday 28 March until 9am on Tuesday 2 April. You can still report emergency / urgent repairs during this time on 01226 787878. (Please note that it may take us longer to answer calls as we have fewer staff on duty). If you have a non-urgent repair then please report this using our app for free on the link here. We also have a range of online forms making it easier and quicker for you to contact us here. As we prepare to go live with our new Homeseeker Lettings Policy there will be no adverts for available homes until after midnight Thursday 4 April. Find out more about our new lettings policy here.
Age, illness, or disability can make daily tasks difficult. If you’re a Berneslai Homes tenant, we may be able to help by providing equipment or adapting your home to meet your needs. We can provide minor adaptations or equipment to make your day-to-day life easier, or assess you in your home to see if major adaptations would help you.
In both cases, you can apply yourself or someone can apply for you. We’ll normally only agree to adapt a home if the person who needs the adaptations is the tenant, their partner, or a member of their family who lives in the home permanently. This person must find it difficult to live in the home because of its facilities. We don’t carry out adaptations if you’ve applied to buy your home under the Right to Buy scheme.
Minor adaptations include things like:
If we agree to a minor adaptation to your home, we’ll order the work with our construction partner and aim to carry out works within 7 working days of ordering them.
We’re happy to provide the equipment or adaptations that we or our partners agree will help you.
Any equipment we provide you with belongs to us or our partners and you’ll need to give it back if the person it was provided for doesn’t need it anymore
Major adaptations include things like:
Barnsley Council may want to visit you at your home and will contact you to make an appointment for an assessment. An occupational therapist or an equipment and adaptations officer will assess your health and mobility. There’s a very high demand for an assessment, so the team is unable to see everyone straight away. They see people who have the greatest risk to their health, safety, and independence first.
They might give you advice about:
They will make sure the adaptations requested are the best way of improving your life and keeping you independent and safe.
If we haven't agreed to adapt your home, we'll explain why we've made that decision.
Please read our frequently asked questions below for more information on expected timescales and current waiting lists.
We make our decisions by considering:
Here are some examples of why we won’t agree to an adaptation:
Unfortunately, in line with Berneslai Homes’ Equipment and Adaptations policy, there is no right to appeal this decision. You can download the Equipment and Adaptations policy below.
However, if you can show that your situation has significantly changed, then please resubmit your request, and our officers will take a fresh look at your case.
We might decide that your best option would be moving to a new home. If that’s the case, we’ll let you know and help you fill in an application form.
Each major adaptation is unique to the needs of the individual and the property being adapted. Specialist products or materials may be required. As a result, once assessed, it’s currently taking us between 2 to 6 months to complete works depending on the size and complexity of the request.
Here’s what to expect
Once you request a major adaptation, you’re placed on a referral waiting list with the Equipment, Adaptations, and Sensory Impairment Team within the NHS (South and West Yorkshire Partnership Trust). They will make arrangements (by phone call unless another form of contact is specified) for one of their team members to visit you and will carry out the required assessment. This process usually takes between 9 to 12 weeks, although extremely urgent cases are assessed straight away.
Once the assessment has taken place, your case will be taken through our weekly panel meeting where a decision will be made on the request, with three possible outcomes:
There are currently over 200 cases awaiting assessment and panel decision which can see the time between assessment and panel taking between 3 to 4 weeks.
Once the decision is made at panel, the Equipment, Adaptations, and Sensory Impairment Team will write to you to inform you of the outcome, unless a feasibility visit is required meaning a Technical Surveyor from Berneslai Homes will make contact to attend your home within a 28 day target timescale to ensure the adaptation request is feasible, working to current Building Regulations, and will take their findings back through panel for a decision.
Under normal circumstances if works are agreed, works orders would be raised and passed to contract partners or sub-contractors to complete within 30 working days.
We currently have a large rolling programme of works that we’re prioritising and working through as effectively and efficiently as possible. It’s currently taking us between 2 to 6 months to complete works depending on the size and complexity of the request.
We will write to all tenants awaiting equipment and adaptations works periodically (every 3 months) to keep you updated.
If you’re unsure about the status of your equipment and adaptations request or need to know more, please contact us on 01226 787878.
10th floor, Gateway Plaza, off Sackville St, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2RD
Berneslai Homes Limited is a company controlled by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales, number 4548803