VA Housing Grants For Disabled Veterans

Sep 20, 2024

6-minute read

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If you’re an active duty member or veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces with service-related disabilities, you may be struggling to buy accessible housing or renovate your current home to make it more accessible and allow you to live more comfortably and independently.

To help disabled veterans adjust and make the best possible adaptations for the future, the Department of Veterans Affairs makes a number of grants available each fiscal year for the construction or modification of homes to better support the needs of veterans. Unlike loans, these are grants not meant to be paid back.

Let’s go over the various housing grants available through the VA, who’s eligible, funding amounts and what you need to know to apply.

Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) Grant

The first two programs we’re going to talk about have very similar names and serve the same purpose. The difference between the two is the amount of funding you can receive, the types of disabilities of those eligible and in some cases, the number of veterans who can qualify for the program each fiscal year.

The first program we’ll talk about is the Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) grant. This is intended for new construction or major modification of a home with special adaptations for better outcomes in living with your service-connected disability.

Eligibility Requirements

In order to qualify for an SAH, there are two main requirements. The first is that you own or will own the home and intend to live in your home on a permanent basis. That’s not to say you can never move, but you have to intend to be there long term.

Secondly, you have to have a qualifying service-connected disability. The categories listed on the VA website are the following:

  • The loss or loss of use of more than one limb
  • Loss or loss of use of a lower leg that has lasting effects associated with a natural disease or injury
  • Blindness (defined as vision of 20/200 or less) in both eyes
  • Certain severe burns
  • If the injury was sustained after September 11, 2001, the loss or inability to use one lower appendage such that you can’t get around without the aid of braces, crutches, canes or a wheelchair. Only 120 veterans eligible based on this last category can qualify each fiscal year.

Funding Amount

Those who do qualify for this grant can receive up to $117,014 to build or adapt a home in the 2024 fiscal year. It’s important to note that the total amount of your grant doesn’t need to be used in the year that you received it. You can use the grant up to six times over the course of your lifetime.