How Much Does A Home Lift Cost

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Are stylish home lifts only for the rich and famous? Absolutely not! Home lifts are much cheaper than you expect and can start from just £12,000*. To make things crystal clear, we’re going to delve into the price of getting a home lift installed as well as what can affect the overall cost.

Whether you are interested in having a home lift installed because you struggle with the stairs or because you would like to future-proof your home, we have all the information you need to understand what’s involved in the process. Perhaps you have multiple generations living in your home and need a lift to keep your staircase free? Maybe you have an elderly pet who would also benefit from not having the use the stairs? Whatever the reason, we have a range of practical yet stylish solutions to help you and your loved ones travel between the floors in your home.

Moving home is a stressful and costly decision to have to make and we don’t believe that anyone should have to leave the home they love just because the stairs are a problem. More often than not, a home lift can be installed in just a few days (including the building works!) allowing you to access your whole home in no time at all!

Our Range

There are several different makes and models of home lifts to choose from, each of which come with different price points.

Here are the types that you can choose from:

• Classic Range – Lifts to carry one person in their wheelchair
• Compact Range – A small model for one or two people standing
• Compact Plus Range – A small two person model to fit two people standing or a wheelchair user and their carer
• Luxury Range – Larger lifts for multiple standing users or for a wheelchair user if needed (this range is suitable if you need to be able to travel between more than two floors)

* New models in our Classic, Compact and Compact Plus Range start from £12,000 including building works while our Luxury Range will start from £20,000. Occasionally we will also have reconditioned models in our Classic and Compact range that come at a reduced rate!

Each model in our range comes in a neutral colour, but if you would like to customise the colour to match your interior décor, some lifts can feature this at an additional cost.

Intro To Home Lifts

How building works affect the cost of your lift

When you have a home lift installed, a hole will need to be cut in the ceiling for the lift to travel through. This hole is called an aperture (A). This aperture is then reinforced by installing new joists (the beams in your ceiling (B)) that are twice as thick to support the weight of your lift. Normally, the price of creating this aperture is included in the cost of your lift. When we create the aperture, we occasionally find pipeworks or electrics that need to be rerouted. Alterations may also need to be made to the home to enable access and use of the lift, for example moving doorways. When installing a lift, it needs to be near socket in order to run. If there isn’t one nearby, or the current one is outdated we will install a new one. While these works may come at an extra cost, we will organise all the work ourselves making it hassle-free for you

The cost of maintaining your lift

When buying your home lift it will automatically come with a 12 months warranty. This includes callouts, repairs and parts. You also have the option to purchase an extended warranty which will cover servicing, callouts and parts for added peace of mind. An annual service and safety check is recommended to make sure that your lift is running smoothly and safely. The cost of this service if you do not choose an extended warranty will cost from £150 per year.

Receiving help for the cost of your home lift

Disability Facilities Grants

If you currently live with a disabling health condition, you could receive a Disabled Facilities Grant (known as a DFG). With a DFG you could receive your lift for free. By contacting the Adult Social Care Services at your local council you can receive help with costs. These grants are means-tested, meaning you would have to be assessed to see if you would qualify for one. You will be asked for proof of your income and any savings you have, so be prepared to disclose this information to the council.

Normally your needs would be assessed by an Occupational Therapist who would recommend the best solution, whether this be a home lift or a stairlift; they will recommend the most suitable and cost-effective option to suit your mobility. The grants team would then help you with a grant application. After this, you would be placed on a waiting list ordered by priority. Before the pandemic, the waiting time for the whole process would be between 6 and 18 months. However, Covid-19 created more need for accessibility adaptations and there is also a backlog of applicants. In 2022, The Bureau of Investigate Journalism found that the waiting list is far longer than the government rules of 18 months! This is because it is taking longer than usual before people are seen by an Occupational Therapist before they can even submit their application. Some councils have even reported an average wait time of 2 to 3 years. You can check the wait times with your local authority. Based on these wait times you can make a decision as to whether you want to wait for a grant approval or you could purchase or rent a model privately. By visiting https://adaptmyhome.org.uk/ you can fill out a self-assessment quiz to find out whether your home supports your needs, whether any adaptations could be made to help you and your likelihood of having a successful grants application.

Tax Deductions

You will be tax-exempt and won’t need to pay VAT on a lift if you qualify for “zero-rating”. This means there is zero VAT added to the cost of a product if:

• you have a long-term disabling health condition that isn’t going to get better e.g. arthritis, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, COPD, etc. A temporary disability like a broken leg won’t qualify.
• you live in a domestic property and you are using the product, not in a block of flats where there are multiple users.
• it is for your use and you are not a business.
• you are a qualifying charity.

If you don’t have one of these health conditions you wouldn’t qualify for zero-rating. If you are over 60 years old it would attract a 5% reduced rate VAT. If you are a business or are installing for multiple users, you will pay the current VAT rate of 20%. For more information, you can check out the HMRC website or ask the business suppling your lift. To claim the zero-rating, your supplier will give you a self-declaration form to fill in with your full name and address and health condition. Once completed, you give it back to the supplier – and that’s it!

To receive a more accurate quote on how much a home lift will be, we will need to visit your home to assess your property and your needs. We will then recommend the best product, give you a detailed written quotation and discuss all the building works that are needed.

To see which lift will be the best for you and your home, call us today for a friendly chat to discuss your needs and we’ll be happy to make an appointment to come and visit you.

Call us today on 01249 477699