How to apply for VA Specially Adapted Housing (SAH), Special Home Adaptation (SHA) and Temporary Residence Adaptation (TRA) grants — eligibility, FY 2026 amounts and VA Form 26-4555
VA offers three adapted housing grants for veterans and service members with qualifying service-connected disabilities. A Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) grant — up to $126,526 for FY 2026 — is for a home you own or will own and a disability such as loss or loss of use of more than one limb, loss or loss of use of a lower leg with the residuals of an organic disease or injury, blindness in both eyes with 20/200 vision or less, certain severe burns, or loss or loss of use of one lower extremity after September 11, 2001 that prevents balancing or walking without braces, crutches, canes or a wheelchair (limited to 120 grants a fiscal year). A Special Home Adaptation (SHA) grant — up to $25,350 — is for a home you or a family member own and loss or loss of use of both hands, certain severe burns or certain respiratory injuries. A Temporary Residence Adaptation (TRA) grant adapts a family member's home where you live temporarily: up to $50,961 if you qualify for SAH, $9,100 if you qualify for SHA. Each grant can be drawn on up to six times over your lifetime, up to the maximum in effect in the last year you use it. Apply online or with VA Form 26-4555.
What you'll need
- VA Form 26-4555 (Application in Acquiring Specially Adapted Housing or Special Home Adaptation Grant), or the online application
- Your Social Security number and VA file or claim number
- Proof you own or will own the home (SAH), or that you or a family member own it (SHA), or that you live in a family member's home (TRA)
- VA's SAH staff at your regional loan center, 877-827-3702, Monday–Friday 8:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. ET
Step-by-step
Step 1: Match your disability to a grant
SAH: you own or will own the permanent home and have a qualifying service-connected disability — loss or loss of use of more than one limb; loss or loss of use of a lower leg together with the residuals of an organic disease or injury; blindness in both eyes (20/200 or less); certain severe burns; or loss or loss of use of one lower extremity after September 11, 2001 that leaves you unable to balance or walk without braces, crutches, canes or a wheelchair (Congress limits this category to 120 grants a fiscal year, with carry-over to later years). SHA: you or a family member own or will own the home and you have loss or loss of use of both hands, certain severe burns, or certain respiratory or breathing injuries. TRA: you qualify for SAH or SHA and are living temporarily in a family member's home that needs changes.
Reference: https://www.va.gov/housing-assistance/disability-housing-grants/
Step 2: Know the amounts and how they can be used
FY 2026 maximums: SAH $126,526; SHA $25,350; TRA $50,961 (SAH-eligible) or $9,100 (SHA-eligible). You can use the grant up to six different times over your lifetime, drawing as much or as little as a project needs; unused amounts remain available in later years, and the maximum is adjusted each year for construction costs, so you can receive up to the maximum in effect in the last year you use it. Grants pay for buying or building an adapted home, adapting a home you already own or will buy, or paying down the mortgage of an already adapted home.
Reference: https://www.va.gov/housing-assistance/disability-housing-grants/
Step 3: Apply
Apply online at VA.gov, or complete VA Form 26-4555 and mail it to Department of Veterans Affairs, Claims Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444, or bring it to your nearest VA regional office. You need your Social Security number and VA file or claim number; VA already has your rating decision. Call 877-827-3702 (TTY 711), Monday–Friday 8:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. ET, to have a form mailed or for help.
Reference: https://www.va.gov/housing-assistance/disability-housing-grants/how-to-apply/
Step 4: Work with VA's SAH staff on the project
After VA decides eligibility and sends its letter, an SAH agent from your regional loan center works with you on the plan: a feasibility review of the home, the adaptations needed (for example ramps, widened doorways, roll-in showers, lowered counters, lifts), contractor bids and the construction agreement. VA's design guide, "A Guide for Specially Adapted Housing and Special Home Adaptation Projects," describes recommended features. Grant funds are disbursed as the approved work is completed and inspected.
Reference: https://www.va.gov/housing-assistance/disability-housing-grants/
Step 5: Smaller changes — the HISA benefit
The Home Improvements and Structural Alterations (HISA) benefit, run through VA health care rather than the grant program, pays for medically necessary home changes such as ramps, bathroom access and widened doors: a lifetime benefit of up to $6,800 for a service-connected condition (or a veteran rated 50% or more) and up to $2,000 for a non-service-connected condition. Apply through your VA medical center's prosthetics service with a prescription from your VA provider; HISA can be used together with an SAH or SHA grant.
Critical tips
- An SAH grant can be combined with a VA-backed home loan to buy and adapt a home in one project; the funding fee is waived for veterans receiving compensation.
- Service members awaiting discharge with a qualifying disability can apply; the grant does not require that you have left service.
- Keep the eligibility letter: later uses of the grant, up to six, build on the same determination.
- A county veterans service officer or a Paralyzed Veterans of America service officer can help with the application and the project: warriorsfund.org/find-cvso.