Veterans with certain severe service-connected disabilities can receive VA grants, not loans, to buy, build, or modify a home for accessibility. Here is what the SAH and SHA grants cover, who qualifies, and how they work with a VA loan.
Grants, not loans
The Specially Adapted Housing program is different from everything else in the VA home loan world: these are grants that do not have to be repaid. They exist to help veterans with specific severe service-connected disabilities live independently in a home adapted to their needs.
The grants can be used to build an adapted home, buy a home and adapt it, modify a home you already own, or pay down the principal on a home that was already adapted. They can also be used alongside a VA loan, with the grant covering the adaptation costs and the loan covering the purchase.
The SAH grant
The Specially Adapted Housing grant is the larger of the two, with a maximum that is adjusted annually and currently exceeds $100,000. It is for veterans with the most severe qualifying disabilities, including loss or loss of use of both legs, blindness in both eyes combined with loss of a limb, or certain severe burn injuries.
The grant can be used up to three times, as long as the total stays within the lifetime maximum. That matters for military families who move: the benefit follows you to your next home.
The SHA grant
The Special Home Adaptation grant is smaller, with a maximum adjusted annually in the low tens of thousands. It covers qualifying disabilities such as blindness in both eyes, loss or loss of use of both hands, and certain severe respiratory injuries.
Like the SAH, it can be used in installments across more than one home, and it applies to buying, building, or modifying. A temporary residence adaptation grant also exists for veterans living in a family member's home.
How the grant works with a VA loan
The grant and the loan solve different problems and are often used together. The VA loan finances the home itself, with the funding fee waived for veterans receiving disability compensation. The grant pays for the adaptations: widened doorways, roll-in showers, ramps, lowered counters, accessible bathrooms.
The grant is approved by the VA separately from the loan, so start the grant application early. The loan closes on the home; the grant funds the work that makes it livable for you.
The bottom line
If you have a qualifying service-connected disability, the adapted housing grants are among the most valuable benefits the VA offers, and they are grants, not loans. Combined with a VA home loan and the funding fee exemption, they can make an accessible home genuinely affordable. The first step is the grant application through the VA, and it is worth starting before you shop for a home.
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Jonathan Mullins
Mortgage Loan Officer · Army Veteran
Jonathan Mullins is an Army Veteran and Mortgage Loan Officer at Military Mortgage, specializing in VA home loans for Veterans, active-duty service members, and military families. He writes this learning center to make VA loan rules, entitlement, and the home-buying process easier to understand.
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