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Written and fact-checked by Jacob Whitmore · Published 3 Nov 2026 · How we work

Published 3 November 2026. Analysis by Jacob Whitmore, Look Into Research, from MHCLG's 2026-27 Disabled Facilities Grant allocations and Census 2021. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a credit and link. No affiliate links or quote forms on this page.

The short answer. England's £723 million Disabled Facilities Grant for 2026-27 works out at £73.97 for every disabled resident. What each council gets varies 7 times over. Uttlesford receives £24.76 per disabled resident and Burnley £173.23. Much of the gap comes from a transition rule that guarantees no council gets less than it did in 2025. On Look Into's estimate, about £70.89 million of this year's money sits with councils above the fair share that the government's own new formula sets.

£73.97
DFG funding per disabled resident in England, 2026-27
7x
gap between the lowest (Uttlesford) and highest (Burnley) council per disabled resident
68
councils funded at least 20% above their formula fair share
48
councils funded at least 20% below their formula fair share

Prices and specs last checked by Look Into on 3 November 2026 · how we picked

What the allocations show

  1. The average is £73.97 per disabled resident. MHCLG allocated £723 million to 296 housing authorities for 2026-27. Census 2021 counted 9,774,501 people in England disabled under the Equality Act. The typical (median) council gets £70.59.
  2. The range is 7 to 1. Uttlesford gets £24.76 per disabled resident (£0.30m for 12,230 people). Burnley gets £173.23 (£3.38m for 19,502). The Isles of Scilly and the City of London are left out of the range because a minimum-allocation rule sets their funding.
  3. Need is not the only thing setting the money. In February 2026 the government adopted a new needs-based formula, which uses disabled and older populations, income deprivation, social housing stock and building costs. It also promised that no council would get less in 2026-27 than its June 2025 allocation, with floors of 97.5% in 2027-28 and 95% in 2028-29. Protecting those councils caps the gains of others.
  4. 68 councils get at least 20% more than their fair share, and 48 get at least 20% less. MHCLG publishes each council's fair share of the national pot. Multiplying it by £723 million and comparing with the actual allocation gives the gap. Across every council above its fair share, the excess adds up to about £70.89 million, close to a tenth of the budget.
  5. The widest gaps run both ways. Luton, Hackney and Lewisham are each funded about 45% below their formula share. Staffordshire Moorlands gets 177% more than its formula share, because its protected 2025 level is far above what the new formula gives it.

The 15 councils with the least per disabled resident

CouncilDFG 2026-27Disabled residentsPer disabled resident
Uttlesford£0.30m12,230£24.76
Hinckley and Bosworth£0.74m19,923£37.35
Milton Keynes£1.63m42,512£38.33
Camden£1.35m31,882£42.20
High Peak£0.71m16,732£42.63
South Cambridgeshire£1.06m23,896£44.39
Cheshire East£3.01m67,819£44.39
Harborough£0.66m14,709£44.77
Lewisham£1.95m43,248£45.15
Swindon£1.68m37,075£45.29
Charnwood£1.45m30,149£48.03
Tamworth£0.70m14,541£48.34
Ashfield£1.35m27,809£48.40
North East Derbyshire£1.05m21,748£48.45
East Hertfordshire£0.99m20,462£48.53

The 15 councils with the most per disabled resident

CouncilDFG 2026-27Disabled residentsPer disabled resident
Burnley£3.38m19,502£173.23
Hillingdon£6.34m39,466£160.70
Brent£6.60m41,163£160.28
Thanet£4.25m32,135£132.13
Dudley£8.00m62,567£127.80
North East Lincolnshire£4.00m31,991£124.93
Hastings£2.55m20,525£124.33
Swale£3.62m29,637£122.13
Cotswold£1.65m13,983£117.83
Woking£1.66m14,142£117.37
Staffordshire Moorlands£2.20m18,823£116.93
Rother£2.29m20,138£113.67
Tewkesbury£1.72m15,172£113.61
Manchester£10.53m96,737£108.81
West Berkshire£2.56m23,671£108.26

Furthest above and below the formula's fair share

Councils with a fair share of at least 0.1% of the national pot. Smaller councils are left out because MHCLG rounds fair shares to four decimal places, which makes the gap unreliable for them.

Funded above fair share

CouncilAllocationFair share x £723mGap
Staffordshire Moorlands£2.20m£0.80m+177%
Cotswold£1.65m£0.72m+128%
East Hampshire£2.10m£0.94m+123%
Richmond upon Thames£2.39m£1.16m+107%
South Oxfordshire£1.92m£0.94m+105%
West Berkshire£2.56m£1.30m+97%
Dudley£8.00m£4.12m+94%
Woking£1.66m£0.87m+91%
Vale of White Horse£2.03m£1.08m+88%
Hillingdon£6.34m£3.54m+79%
Fylde£1.54m£0.87m+77%
Tunbridge Wells£1.79m£1.01m+77%

Funded below fair share

CouncilAllocationFair share x £723mGap
Luton£2.07m£3.83m-46%
Hackney£2.22m£4.12m-46%
Lewisham£1.95m£3.54m-45%
Camden£1.35m£2.31m-42%
Braintree£1.36m£2.31m-41%
Milton Keynes£1.63m£2.75m-41%
Ashfield£1.35m£2.17m-38%
Basildon£1.85m£2.96m-38%
Swindon£1.68m£2.68m-37%
Oldham£3.01m£4.77m-37%
Rochford£0.69m£1.08m-36%
Hinckley and Bosworth£0.74m£1.16m-36%

What it means if you need an adaptation

The allocation is what your council receives from central government. It does not cap what you can get: the mandatory grant is up to £30,000 in England whatever your council's budget, a cap that has lost 41% of its value since 2008. But a council with less money per disabled resident has less room to fund discretionary top-ups, move quickly, or cover jobs above the cap. Councils can add their own money. Our Disabled Facilities Grant guide explains the means test and the stages, and the home adaptation cost calculator prices common jobs against the grant limit.

All 296 housing authorities

Ranked from least to most per disabled resident. "Gap" is the allocation compared with MHCLG's fair share multiplied by £723 million.

Show the full table
RankCouncilDFG 2026-27 (£)Disabled residentsPer disabled residentGap to fair share
1Uttlesford302,80412,230£24.76-53%
2Hinckley and Bosworth744,15219,923£37.35-36%
3Milton Keynes1,629,58542,512£38.33-41%
4Camden1,345,45331,882£42.20-42%
5High Peak713,34716,732£42.63-30%
6South Cambridgeshire1,060,62423,896£44.39-8%
7Cheshire East3,010,67167,819£44.39-26%
8Harborough658,58414,709£44.77-9%
9Lewisham1,952,45443,248£45.15-45%
10Swindon1,679,21637,075£45.29-37%
11Charnwood1,448,11830,149£48.03-9%
12Tamworth702,96214,541£48.34-19%
13Ashfield1,345,85027,809£48.40-38%
14North East Derbyshire1,053,61721,748£48.45-27%
15East Hertfordshire993,02420,462£48.53-28%
16New Forest1,591,40732,591£48.83+0%
17South Kesteven1,253,62925,627£48.92-13%
18South Ribble995,06620,314£48.98-14%
19Cambridge1,051,54921,433£49.06+32%
20Rushcliffe939,13519,075£49.23+8%
21Brentwood540,04210,850£49.77-7%
22City of London46,024919£50.08+59%
23Rochford694,18113,694£50.69-36%
24West Northamptonshire3,289,20964,876£50.70-24%
25Melton443,0838,727£50.77-12%
26Rugby921,92118,058£51.05-2%
27Stroud1,048,51820,521£51.09-3%
28Mid Suffolk897,15017,539£51.15-11%
29Guildford999,99319,518£51.23+15%
30Lambeth2,157,39542,017£51.35-29%
31Lincoln1,095,13121,323£51.36-11%
32Tandridge671,18213,058£51.40+3%
33Rutland335,3436,523£51.41+16%
34Southwark2,167,33642,022£51.58-25%
35Braintree1,357,92826,288£51.66-41%
36Chorley1,129,83421,809£51.81-8%
37Ribble Valley487,6599,398£51.89+12%
38St Albans996,17919,125£52.09-2%
39West Lindsey1,020,64519,530£52.26-29%
40Blaby853,24116,305£52.33-9%
41Exeter1,252,12223,782£52.65-9%
42York1,821,52134,592£52.66+48%
43North Northamptonshire3,292,83462,313£52.84-28%
44South Norfolk1,330,91525,142£52.94-8%
45North Kesteven1,170,38622,104£52.95-5%
46North West Leicestershire977,62718,330£53.33-10%
47Broadland1,302,99624,417£53.36-5%
48Dartford878,63616,374£53.66-29%
49Dacorum1,269,32223,522£53.96-24%
50Chelmsford1,415,99326,188£54.07-27%
51Warwick1,240,12622,535£55.03+23%
52Stratford-on-Avon1,194,59221,681£55.10-3%
53Worcester1,002,88018,195£55.12-13%
54Wiltshire4,773,72886,495£55.19-17%
55Fareham1,065,84719,252£55.36+34%
56Norwich1,662,69330,018£55.39-8%
57South Holland992,80517,901£55.46-14%
58North Tyneside2,319,15541,748£55.55+11%
59Bristol4,535,27181,159£55.88-15%
60Canterbury1,733,22930,870£56.15-17%
61Central Bedfordshire2,476,58044,032£56.25-26%
62Malvern Hills857,77415,144£56.64-1%
63Derbyshire Dales746,65713,177£56.66+15%
64Wealden1,577,51427,629£57.10-1%
65Colchester1,866,50732,624£57.21-26%
66Doncaster3,576,10562,416£57.29-26%
67Brighton and Hove2,972,99951,797£57.40-2%
68Waverley1,057,94518,396£57.51+33%
69North Hertfordshire1,225,21821,237£57.69-23%
70West Oxfordshire1,002,28617,296£57.95+16%
71Broxtowe1,220,94620,976£58.21+6%
72Bath and North East Somerset1,853,39631,778£58.32-8%
73Babergh943,34816,160£58.38+0%
74Ashford1,326,65322,655£58.56-27%
75North Yorkshire6,346,790107,986£58.77+24%
76Basildon1,849,22631,380£58.93-38%
77Nottingham3,558,51160,218£59.09-29%
78Newcastle upon Tyne3,378,15456,961£59.31+11%
79Stockton-on-Tees2,319,66839,052£59.40-13%
80Oadby and Wigston591,5749,914£59.67+2%
81Sheffield6,566,135109,869£59.76-11%
82Somerset6,366,284106,514£59.77-8%
83Hackney2,224,58937,020£60.09-46%
84West Devon714,97311,896£60.10-1%
85East Riding of Yorkshire3,829,48863,601£60.21+29%
86Wokingham1,334,71522,159£60.23+42%
87Wandsworth2,262,28837,444£60.42-11%
88East Cambridgeshire856,27514,166£60.45-1%
89Newark and Sherwood1,490,10324,470£60.90-10%
90Derby2,986,32949,040£60.90-29%
91Leicester3,488,52757,148£61.04-33%
92Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole4,522,36973,838£61.25-7%
93Northumberland4,130,67667,190£61.48+12%
94Gateshead2,619,59342,548£61.57+7%
95Kirklees4,658,21175,591£61.62-5%
96Breckland1,709,09827,724£61.65-12%
97Erewash1,365,38522,123£61.72-18%
98South Gloucestershire2,932,34647,429£61.83-1%
99Welwyn Hatfield1,115,86017,906£62.32-9%
100West Suffolk1,830,71129,375£62.32+1%
101Darlington1,319,43921,103£62.52+1%
102Huntingdonshire1,851,45729,577£62.60+2%
103South Derbyshire1,155,64818,412£62.77-11%
104Plymouth3,616,77857,395£63.02-26%
105Bedford1,813,33428,724£63.13-24%
106Reading1,535,94224,095£63.75+1%
107Cannock Chase1,304,39820,324£64.18+6%
108East Devon1,900,02029,412£64.60+5%
109Boston813,27912,576£64.67-34%
110South Hams1,091,40216,756£65.13+8%
111Medway3,175,75648,572£65.38-26%
112Mid Sussex1,443,25122,063£65.41+25%
113Epping Forest1,248,37819,012£65.66-4%
114Cherwell1,538,56523,397£65.76+18%
115Three Rivers842,77312,692£66.40-3%
116Thurrock1,694,80525,443£66.61-22%
117Southend-on-Sea2,212,22333,106£66.82-25%
118Luton2,067,44830,933£66.84-46%
119Hertsmere1,008,24915,076£66.88-18%
120Gedling1,475,61622,062£66.88+2%
121Stockport3,580,87953,493£66.94+10%
122Cheltenham1,271,26818,949£67.09+26%
123Castle Point1,068,67415,884£67.28-22%
124Kensington and Chelsea1,233,73918,311£67.38+0%
125Buckinghamshire5,045,19874,601£67.63+11%
126Wychavon1,553,44622,955£67.67+13%
127Windsor and Maidenhead1,280,70818,906£67.74+36%
128Mid Devon1,038,51915,326£67.76+3%
129South Staffordshire1,398,00520,606£67.84+29%
130Oldham3,012,01544,249£68.07-37%
131Bromley3,131,87445,894£68.24+1%
132Maldon786,82211,484£68.51-9%
133Dorset5,152,51775,077£68.63+3%
134Havering2,643,77438,449£68.76-1%
135East Staffordshire1,439,85820,931£68.79+17%
136East Suffolk3,498,02050,749£68.93-3%
137Maidstone1,937,10228,025£69.12-8%
138Kingston upon Hull3,694,53253,398£69.19-10%
139Gosport1,160,19016,714£69.41-6%
140Cheshire West and Chester4,576,58365,897£69.45+4%
141Portsmouth2,555,73936,648£69.74+1%
142Basingstoke and Deane1,938,92927,781£69.79+22%
143Ipswich1,757,57625,165£69.84-10%
144Bassetlaw1,680,61824,022£69.96+1%
145Rotherham3,938,06456,177£70.10-1%
146Croydon3,846,73154,852£70.13-26%
147Stevenage1,088,80015,468£70.39-11%
148Bradford6,603,17193,697£70.47-27%
149Teignbridge1,937,99327,411£70.70-8%
150Harrow2,212,85131,258£70.79-19%
151Southampton3,118,61543,937£70.98+0%
152Islington2,493,34935,063£71.11-12%
153Gloucester1,641,33023,073£71.14-5%
154South Tyneside2,380,49433,368£71.34+14%
155Bracknell Forest1,201,61716,704£71.94+19%
156Merton1,866,66025,902£72.07-4%
157Amber Valley1,808,98925,067£72.17+0%
158North Somerset2,930,21740,533£72.29+10%
159North Norfolk1,680,85823,227£72.37+11%
160County Durham8,671,146119,790£72.39+7%
161Arun2,355,52632,481£72.52+9%
162Lichfield1,376,33018,944£72.65+36%
163Redcar and Cleveland2,221,38930,483£72.87-1%
164Adur918,49712,577£73.03+15%
165Elmbridge1,212,29416,565£73.18+29%
166King's Lynn and West Norfolk2,291,58531,213£73.42-1%
167Crawley1,305,93917,697£73.79+6%
168East Lindsey2,621,56335,512£73.82-19%
169Chesterfield1,763,21723,838£73.97-2%
170Warrington2,757,57137,266£74.00+16%
171North Devon1,428,22519,295£74.02-6%
172Forest of Dean1,238,62516,681£74.25+14%
173Hartlepool1,570,57421,145£74.28-20%
174Tower Hamlets2,982,97440,125£74.34-36%
175Bury2,669,23535,886£74.38-0%
176Barnet3,707,71549,679£74.63-17%
177Lewes1,521,12520,342£74.78+11%
178Eastleigh1,637,60821,869£74.88+33%
179Fenland1,561,44920,836£74.94-17%
180Oxford1,763,76723,493£75.08+74%
181Shropshire4,518,42859,990£75.32+45%
182Mansfield1,832,42424,315£75.36-3%
183Torridge1,089,40214,449£75.40-6%
184Stafford1,888,59624,969£75.64+54%
185Wakefield5,386,11671,206£75.64+5%
186Sutton2,243,16829,614£75.75+11%
187Leeds10,281,651135,681£75.78+37%
188Reigate and Banstead1,596,57721,065£75.79+23%
189Broxbourne1,084,75514,255£76.10-32%
190Watford985,71412,933£76.22-15%
191Harlow1,164,07515,224£76.46-11%
192Dover1,893,81824,647£76.84-10%
193Great Yarmouth1,732,75222,548£76.85-23%
194Redditch1,181,74515,304£77.22+26%
195Cornwall9,366,480120,570£77.68+5%
196Barnsley4,190,36653,916£77.72+18%
197Folkestone and Hythe1,867,98323,960£77.96-1%
198Winchester1,527,51519,566£78.07+76%
199Sunderland5,032,09264,396£78.14+2%
200Bromsgrove1,285,84716,437£78.23+62%
201Stoke-on-Trent4,272,94454,608£78.25+6%
202West Lancashire1,791,08222,777£78.64+24%
203Telford and Wrekin2,875,68836,527£78.73-1%
204Westminster2,222,68028,124£79.03-4%
205Bolsover1,450,66018,343£79.09+0%
206Tameside3,662,45946,209£79.26-16%
207Nuneaton and Bedworth2,050,01225,694£79.79+9%
208Horsham1,741,88821,803£79.89+61%
209Spelthorne1,170,40914,638£79.96+8%
210Preston2,160,02926,838£80.48-4%
211Hammersmith and Fulham1,855,79322,972£80.78+7%
212Herefordshire2,815,03134,828£80.83+56%
213Hart1,039,95412,850£80.93+80%
214Slough1,466,20717,977£81.56-8%
215Trafford3,064,84437,550£81.62+32%
216Peterborough2,874,60435,180£81.71-25%
217Westmorland and Furness3,457,17142,287£81.75+65%
218North Warwickshire985,92012,045£81.85+24%
219Hyndburn1,408,72317,125£82.26-15%
220Barking and Dagenham2,386,82428,993£82.32-21%
221Torbay2,736,17633,225£82.35-14%
222Tonbridge and Malling1,667,97920,224£82.48+21%
223Waltham Forest3,036,46436,762£82.60-2%
224Solihull3,083,30037,234£82.81+29%
225Wirral6,071,65873,088£83.07-13%
226Mole Valley1,100,39913,242£83.10+52%
227Newcastle-under-Lyme2,128,17825,610£83.10+55%
228Gravesham1,461,29617,509£83.46+6%
229Tendring2,982,68835,694£83.56-25%
230Worthing1,781,58621,303£83.63+17%
231Pendle1,420,10916,915£83.96-30%
232Birmingham16,636,797198,064£84.00-17%
233Test Valley1,706,76920,316£84.01+57%
234Redbridge3,122,44037,022£84.34-4%
235Runnymede1,084,74712,842£84.47+67%
236Greenwich3,544,87741,576£85.26+2%
237Kingston upon Thames1,886,21321,990£85.78+37%
238Wigan5,651,23865,868£85.80+26%
239Bolton4,598,95053,598£85.80-15%
240Isle of Wight2,819,23232,755£86.07+5%
241Newham3,660,85142,032£87.10-20%
242Wyre Forest1,811,49620,459£88.54+19%
243Sevenoaks1,616,97218,088£89.39+32%
244Surrey Heath1,096,92712,268£89.41+69%
245Rochdale3,839,93142,567£90.21-18%
246Salford4,498,81849,818£90.31-7%
247Halton2,563,95228,382£90.34-4%
248Coventry5,188,79457,225£90.67+1%
249South Oxfordshire1,923,85520,899£92.05+105%
250Lancaster2,660,70128,856£92.21+60%
251Fylde1,535,19816,649£92.21+77%
252Wolverhampton4,431,40547,979£92.36+9%
253Epsom and Ewell974,40810,369£93.97+68%
254Blackpool3,361,19835,459£94.79-5%
255Middlesbrough2,814,37329,520£95.34-0%
256Haringey3,443,34236,114£95.35-13%
257St Helens3,905,85240,829£95.66+4%
258Blackburn with Darwen2,737,53128,575£95.80-16%
259Sandwell5,867,56561,047£96.12+14%
260North Lincolnshire3,210,13033,343£96.28+53%
261Sefton5,985,01961,133£97.90+6%
262Eastbourne2,177,94921,919£99.36+16%
263Calderdale3,763,47637,862£99.40+37%
264Cumberland5,390,64754,117£99.61+36%
265Vale of White Horse2,033,69920,398£99.70+88%
266Walsall5,402,16054,153£99.76-2%
267Havant2,473,19724,718£100.06+32%
268Knowsley3,530,48734,990£100.90-14%
269Richmond upon Thames2,389,52923,479£101.77+107%
270Chichester2,135,76420,976£101.82+74%
271Bexley3,679,05536,083£101.96+21%
272Rossendale1,439,43714,027£102.62+33%
273Liverpool10,944,132105,962£103.28-5%
274Tunbridge Wells1,789,11417,299£103.42+77%
275Wyre2,580,89824,771£104.19+49%
276Rushmoor1,493,11414,309£104.35+48%
277Hounslow3,721,99235,294£105.46+23%
278Ealing4,750,40944,811£106.01-0%
279Enfield4,802,08644,876£107.01-16%
280East Hampshire2,097,53919,579£107.13+123%
281West Berkshire2,562,58523,671£108.26+97%
282Manchester10,525,72496,737£108.81+8%
283Tewkesbury1,723,71315,172£113.61+70%
284Rother2,289,10520,138£113.67+51%
285Staffordshire Moorlands2,201,06718,823£116.93+177%
286Woking1,659,87214,142£117.37+91%
287Cotswold1,647,67713,983£117.83+128%
288Swale3,619,65029,637£122.13+32%
289Isles of Scilly36,412295£123.43+404%
290Hastings2,551,97520,525£124.33+10%
291North East Lincolnshire3,996,53031,991£124.93+58%
292Dudley7,996,21762,567£127.80+94%
293Thanet4,246,14732,135£132.13+25%
294Brent6,597,40641,163£160.28+32%
295Hillingdon6,341,99339,466£160.70+79%
296Burnley3,378,23619,502£173.23+51%

Download the full dataset (CSV), 296 rows, with ONS codes.

How Look Into made this

Allocations are from Annex A of MHCLG's February 2026 consultation response, which lists the 2026-27 DFG for each district, unitary and London borough. County rows are totals of their districts and are not counted again; the listed figures add to £723.0 million. Disabled residents are people "disabled under the Equality Act" in Census 2021 table TS038, matched by ONS code. Cumberland, North Yorkshire, Somerset and Westmorland and Furness were formed after the census, so their former districts are added together. Fair shares are from MHCLG's Fair Shares Calculator. Per disabled resident is the allocation divided by Census disabled residents.

What this could not check. The formula uses its own estimate of disabled adults and children, which MHCLG rounds to the nearest 1,000 and part-bases on licensed data. Look Into uses the Census count instead so the figures can be reproduced, and the two differ. Fair shares are rounded to four decimal places, so a small council's gap can be off by several percentage points. Fair share times £723 million is not exactly what a council would get with no transition rule, because the minimum-allocation safeguard also takes a slice. The Census was taken in March 2021. None of this measures how well a council spends its grant or how long it takes; that needs council-level timescale data, which is not published.

Sources

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