Previous experience of local authority grant application

momo101

Hi all,
Has anyone any experience of managing the grant application for a general repairs grant or similar from a local authority, in hindsight would you have used one of these non-profit project management orgs to handle it?
Basically, the council has provisionally agreed to fund a number of repairs such as rewiring of the house. I'm just wondering after giving them 2 quotes from contractors to the council officer, what's the procedure that follows to get the work done? would the contractor sign a contract with the council for the agreed cost and get paid by them directly, or a contract with the household who would have to pay initially and recoup the cost from the council (i.e. a cheque), how long would that take? At this stage I'm trying to get information before I approach the council officer as our specific case is a bit complicated.

Thanks

Momo