Veterans
VA grants for home modifications
The VA has two kinds of help for changing a home: the HISA benefit through your VA medical center, and the larger SAH and SHA grants through VA benefits. Here is what each one pays for, who qualifies, and what we do to help you apply.
HISA: Home Improvements and Structural Alterations
HISA is a VA health-care benefit. It pays toward changes to your home that a VA doctor prescribes so you can get in and out safely and use your bathroom, kitchen and laundry. It applies to service-connected and non-service-connected disabilities, and you apply through the VA medical center where you get care.
How much HISA can pay
Up to $6,800 for a service-connected disability.
Up to $6,800 for a non-service-connected disability if you have a service-connected rating of 50 percent or more.
Up to $2,000 for any other non-service-connected disability.
These are lifetime amounts, not yearly ones. The VA decides what is medically necessary and how much it will approve. A cap is a maximum, not a promise.
Who qualifies
You need to be enrolled in VA health care, and a VA physician has to prescribe the change with a diagnosis and a medical reason. Both service-connected and non-service-connected disabilities can qualify. Your VA doctor is the first person to talk to.
What HISA pays for, and what it does not
HISA is written for permanent, structural changes. The VA’s own examples include:
Entrance and exit access, including permanent ramps
Roll-in showers and other bathroom changes
Lowering counters and sinks
Plumbing and electrical work for medical equipment
The VA’s list of what HISA does not pay for includes:
Removable equipment such as portable ramps, porch lifts and stair glides
Walkways to exterior buildings, exterior decking, spas and hot tubs
New construction and home security systems
Routine repairs and maintenance
A note on stairlifts. Because the VA lists stair glides as removable equipment, a stairlift is not a HISA item. Ask your VA provider whether it can be supplied as medical equipment or, for veterans with qualifying service-connected disabilities, through the SAH or SHA grants below.
The paperwork
The application is VA Form 10-0103. Your local Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service at the VA medical center processes it. A complete packet has five parts:
A prescription from your VA physician with the diagnosis and medical reason.
Signed VA Form 10-0103, including the advance-payment request if you want one.
A signed statement from the property owner authorizing the work. If you are not the owner, it must be notarized.
A written, itemized estimate for labor, materials, permits and inspections from a licensed, bonded and insured contractor.
A color photograph of the area before any work.
Do not start work before the VA approves it. Work done ahead of approval is reimbursed only in narrow cases, and you carry the risk.
Who gets paid
The VA pays you, the veteran, not the contractor. If you ask for it on the form, the VA can pay up to 50 percent in advance, within 30 days of approval, with the rest after the work is done and inspected. We invoice you, and you pay us when the VA pays you.
SAH, SHA and TRA: the larger VA grants
These grants come from VA benefits, not the medical center, and are for veterans and service members with specific severe service-connected disabilities, such as loss or loss of use of limbs, blindness in both eyes, or severe burns. They can be used to build, buy or change a home so you can live independently, and they can be used up to six times over your lifetime.
Specially Adapted Housing (SAH): up to $126,526 in FY2026, for a home you own or will own.
Special Home Adaptation (SHA): up to $25,350 in FY2026, for a home you or a family member owns.
Temporary Residence Adaptation (TRA): up to $50,961 (SAH-eligible) or $9,100 (SHA-eligible) in FY2026, for adapting a family member’s home you are living in for now.
Apply with VA Form 26-4555, online at va.gov or by mail. HISA and these grants can be used together. Amounts change each October. Check current amounts at va.gov/housing-assistance/disability-housing-grants, and HISA amounts at prosthetics.va.gov/psas/HISA2.asp.
How LiveWell helps
We do not apply for you and we cannot promise approval. What we do is make the contractor side complete and correct, so your packet is not sent back.
Free in-home visit. We measure, listen, and talk through what your VA doctor has prescribed.
The estimate the VA form needs. Itemized labor, materials, permits and inspections, on the letterhead of a licensed, bonded and insured Texas contractor, with the before photo.
You file. Your VA provider or the Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service can help. We answer any questions the VA has about our estimate.
We build after approval. Our own crews, in Houston, Austin and San Antonio. Common HISA projects are permanent ramps, roll-in showers and wider doorways.
LiveWell Mobility is a Licensed Texas Elevator Contractor (#20399), insured and bonded. Book a free in-home visit.
Questions veterans ask
Is HISA a yearly benefit?
No. It is a lifetime amount. If you have used part of it before, the rest is what remains.
Can I get HISA if my disability is not service-connected?
Yes, up to $2,000, or up to $6,800 if you also have a service-connected rating of 50 percent or more.
Does the VA pay LiveWell directly?
No. HISA pays the veteran. You can ask for up to half in advance on the form. We invoice you, and you pay us when the VA pays you.
Will HISA cover a stairlift?
Talk to a person
Free in-home assessment. We measure, photograph and write the itemized estimate your VA paperwork asks for.