VA housing grants & grant-like benefits

These are the VA benefits that behave most like grants: capped dollar amounts, not competitive, and free to apply for (a VSO can help you at no cost). If you have a qualifying service-connected disability, this is real money you’ve earned — the trick is knowing the rules and the sequencing.

Adapting your home

• SAH (up to $126,526) is the big one — to buy, build, or adapt a permanently owned home for the most severe qualifying disabilities. You can use it up to 6 times in your life, and unused balance carries forward.
• SHA (up to $25,350) covers a narrower set of conditions and a home owned by you or a family member.
• TRA (up to $50,961 if SAH-qualified) adapts a family member’s home you’re living in temporarily — no ownership required.
• HISA (up to $6,800 lifetime) is separate and stackable — medically necessary changes like a ramp or an accessible bathroom, on a VA physician’s prescription. Renters qualify with the owner’s notarized permission.

Vehicles and clothing

• The automobile allowance pays up to $27,074.99 toward a specially equipped vehicle. The rule that trips people up: get VA approval before you buy. Purchase first and you can lose the benefit.
• The clothing allowance ($1,053.19/year) is small but easy to miss — and it has a hard August 1 deadline each year. If a device or prescribed medication damages your clothing, apply through your VA medical center’s prosthetic representative.

Every dollar figure here is FY2026 and resets at the federal fiscal-year rollover on October 1 — always confirm the current maximum on VA.gov before you plan around it. Eligibility and qualifying conditions are determined by VA.