Wheelchair user John Simpson has been waiting six years for Surrey County Council to build him a downstairs bedroom and bathroom.

55 year old John, who has multiple sclerosis, sleeps in an armchair, uses a bucket for a toilet and a bowl to wash. Because of the strain, he and his wife Brenda are both on tranquillisers.

John says: "I now couldn?t care less whether I live or die, it has got me down so much."

Brenda, 59, adds: "We still don?t know when the extension will be built. At one point I seriously considered leaving when I couldn?t cope any more. How can they play with people?s lives like this?"

Brenda and John's problems were caused by a series of staff and design changes, and a new Joseph Rowntree Foundation report, Money Well Spent, has found they are not alone in struggling to get help. Many councils ignore the law and overlook people?s needs to save money, it says.

Even when assessments prove a person needs assistance, they can still miss out if they don?t qualify for a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG). And because the maximum grant is ?20,000 social services often use the cheapest quote for adaptations because they have to make up the difference.

Councils also routinely fail to consult people properly, with many not even shown a picture of what they would be given, the report says.

Marie Pye, head of Disability Discrimination Act policy at the Disability Rights Commission, says people struggle for years to get adaptations. She adds: "The system is a mess, and needs serious revision. Adaptations are crucial. When they fail, they fail so badly they completely prevent independent living, yet when they work there are tremendous benefits."

JRF report author Frances Heywood believes even expensive adaptations are good value. They prevent accidents and lessen demand on carers to help people live more independently. Nearly 80 per cent of the 266 people surveyed said adaptations had benefited their health in some way.

Heywood says: "Properly done, they are so beneficial, but when badly done they cause social exclusion, or embarrassment. One person stopped having visitors because they were so ashamed of the commode in the kitchen."

Other problems people had were grab rails that were unusable because they were put in the wrong place, inadequate heating in extensions, showers that were too small, and work that was poor quality.

So why is it so difficult to get the right help or any adaptation at all?

Pye says a major problem is joint administration of the system by housing providers and social services.

The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 says a DFG must be given if the adaptation will enable a person to get in and out of their house, access a bedroom or bathroom, cook food or control their own lighting and heating. It also limits the wait to six months.

But while the housing agencies use this act, social services often try to cut their costs by using the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, which focuses on narrower medical issues.Yet Government guidance says they should use the more recent act.

Even those getting help face a severe means test for the DFG, which only disregards ?51.60 a week for rent or mortgage payments, or ?67.08 a week if the adaptation is for a disabled child.

Maggie Winchcombe, director of the Disabled Living Centres Council, says: "The system needs to be client-centred, with overhaul a priority. It?s 30 years since the 1970 Act and we are only now coming to the nitty gritty of what it means to support people at home."

Virginia Shaw, director of the National Disabled Persons Housing Service, who published the good practice guide, Needs First, for housing associations in July says more resources need to be available to back up the legislation and guidance.

Ian Agnew agrees. He is director of Foundations, the national co-ordinating body for home improvement agencies (HIAs) which help disabled people raise money to pay for adaptations. He says there is "a background of ever-decreasing resources and increasing waiting times for grants."

The Department of Health and the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions are producing guidance for councils on improving the process, due to be published early next year.

But while this will help, disabled people would receive a much better service now if councils applied the law properly instead of ignoring it.