HISA Grants and Other Housing Grants for Veterans

Making a home accessible when you have disabilities can be expensive. Still, you need to be able to do basic things like get in and out of the house, access sinks in the kitchen and bathroom, and bathe. If you’re a veteran with a disability, whether it’s service connected or not, you may qualify for various VA housing grants to make your home more accessible, even if you’re renting.

Veteran housing grants

The VA provides three primary grants for disabled veterans who need adaptations to their housing in order to live and function there. Each grant addresses a different need.

1. Home Improvements and Structural Alterations (HISA). This grant is for veterans with service-connected disabilities (and in some cases non-service-connected disabilities) to make basic modifications to a home they rent or own.
2. Special Housing Adaptation (SHA). This grant is for veterans or service members with qualifying permanent service-connected disabilities. It provides funding for accessibility improvements to a home they own or will own someday.
3. Specially Adapted Housing (SAH). This grant is for veterans or service members with qualifying service-connected disabilities significantly impacting mobility. This grant can be used to improve accessibility to an existing home or build a new one.

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What is a HISA grant?

A Home Improvements and Structural Alterations (HISA) grant provides money to help you make your home accessible. HISA grants can be used for structural changes that are medically necessary based on disability-related needs. These changes may include those for:

• Improvement and widening of entrances or exits, including clearing paths or installing ramps
• Essential uses of bathrooms and sanitary facilities, like roll-in showers or widening of spaces for wheelchair accessibility
• Kitchen or bathroom counter access, which may include lowering counters
• Upgrading plumbing or electrical systems for use with medical equipment

HISA won’t fund walkways to exterior buildings, spas or hot tubs, exterior decking, routine repairs, porch lifts or portable ramps, security systems, or new construction.

You may receive a HISA grant of up to $6,800 to address medically-justified needs in your primary residence, whether you rent or own. It can also be used to address a non-service connected disability if you have another service-connected disability rated at least 50%. Other health conditions and circumstances can qualify you for up to $2,000.

To apply for a HISA grant, you must have a: 

• Prescription from a VA physician that describes the project and provides the medical justification for it
• Completed VA Form 10-0103
• Itemized estimate of costs for the project
• Color photo of the area you’re seeking the improvements to

If you rent, you also need a signed, notarized statement from the owner that authorizes the changes.

What is a SHA grant?

A Special Housing Adaptation (SHA) grant provides money to buy, build, or change your home to make it accessible if you have an eligible service-connected disability. SHA grants are available only if you or a family member own or will own the home. 

Service-connected disabilities that qualify you for an SHA grant include the loss or loss of use of both hands, certain severe burns, or specific respiratory conditions. 

If you don’t use the full amount you’re granted in a given year, you can use it in the future. The VA may adjust the total amount you receive, depending on construction costs in the last year you use the grant.

What is a SAH grant?

A Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) grant is another grant you can apply for to make your housing more accessible and help you move around in it, given your physical limitations. This grant is to buy, build, or change a home you own or will own, just like the SHA grant. Also like the SHA grant, you must have a qualifying service-connected disability to qualify. 

Qualifying service-connected disabilities for an SAH grant include:

• The loss of or inability to use more than one limb
• The loss or inability to use a lower leg
• Blindness in both eyes 
• Certain severe burns
• The loss or loss of use of a foot or leg, which makes using a mobility aid necessary

This grant is limited to only 120 veterans a year. If you aren’t approved in the current year, you may be able to receive it in future years.

The SAH grant maximum is $117,014 in the current fiscal year. Like the SHA grant, it may be distributed over multiple years. 

You can check the status of your SHA or SAH application while it’s ongoing. The VA determines which grant is most applicable to your specific situation. You can’t receive both.  

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Are there other veteran housing grants?

You can use a Temporary Residence Adaptation (TRA) grant to immediately modify the home where you temporarily live. These grants are for veterans who qualify for SHA or SAH grants but currently live with a relative and need changes to that residence to meet their needs. 

If you qualify for an SHA grant, you can get up to $8,415 through the TRA grant program. SAH grant qualification gets you up to $47,130 with a TRA grant. This funding is in addition to what you receive from the primary grant.

How Woods & Woods can help

At Woods & Woods, we focus on helping non-working veterans with service-connected conditions get individual unemployability benefits and, in some cases, increased ratings. We also help survivors of veterans receive their DIC benefits. If you think we can help you with your claim, call us today for a free case evaluation. You won’t pay us unless we take and win your case.

Talk to Us About Your Claim: 
(812) 426-7200

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