hand rail

my elderly mother lives in a small block of villas  all owner occupied by other elderly residents. she now  needs a hand rail just outside her front door to safely walk down a small sloping path (a metre or two at the most i think) to the footpath. since this would be on common property she thought the body corporate might pay for it, especially as the body corporate has paid to have paths installed for some of the residents at their request around their villas. she has enqiured  (with the body coprorate manager i think) and been told she will have to foot this expense as it is for her personal use, so she asked me to write on her behalf to get some advice/clarification.   thanks for any help.