Can I put patio doors down as an expense?

[jane5]

I rent my house from the council and can not get a buggy through the back door to the garden with out folding it up. There are brick out house's right out side the door so to carry any thing out is a pain.

I am training to care for a 6year who is in a wheelchair and has no head support and has to be lifted with a hoist. There is no way I could get this lo out through the back door and could go through my garage but it is an old dusty asbestos garage and I would not let my dd go in there so do not want the lo going through it.

I have been looking at patio doors in to the garden from the play room and it would cost about £1000 - £1500.

Would I be able to put this through as an expense because if I wasn't minding I wouldn't bother and I rent the house and do not intend to buy?

[Monkey1]

your getting it done so you can care for a minded child, you do not own the house so are not adding value to it so yes i would put it all through!:thumbsup:

[Donkey]

you could justify this as an expense under the disability discrimination act...

practitioners need to make reasonable adjustments to their home in order to provide care for a person with additional needs...

me personally, I wouldn't do it as I don't have 1.5k lying around :o

but if mr taxman came knocking you could justify as above...

[jane5]

Thanks to you both for your replies :thumbsup:

I dont have the money and will have to get a loan but the mum of the lo is really lovely and lo has so many disabilities and they are life threatening so she can not leave him with any one without training (I have a medical background) and they get very limited respite care from a hospice.

I want to offer the best care I can to this family.

[aly]

you sound a perfect cm....:)

[MrAnchovy]

Unfortunately the allowances under the DDA are not as wide as they probably should be, and this expenditure would not normally be covered - the HMRC guidance (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/specialist/disability-act-guidance.htm#doors) is fairly specific.

Your best bet is to call HMRC and ask them, if they say it is allowed then follow it up in writing ("I called your xxx office on xxx and spoke to xxx who told me xxx.... On the basis of this information I intend to claim allowable expenses/Annual Investment Allowance/Writing Down Allowance of £xxx in the year 2011/12.").

[flowerpots]

have you asked your la if there are any grants you could access? :thumbsup:

[Mouse]

Have you contacted your local authority to see if there is any funding available? Our general funding was limited a while back, but we were told they could usually find some sort of funding to help when looking after children with additional needs.

It might be worth a try.

[TheBTeam]

I would look into grants etc first, do you have a development officer that you could ask or speak with the county council and ask?

[Stew....pid]

first port of call is to contact the council from which you rent and ask if you can put a patio door in, you may need planning permission and the the very least is it will need to be inspected by the building inspector before and after the work has been done due to changing the structure of a load bearing wall, that alone can cost around £350 :(