How To Secure NDIS Funding For Your Next Home
Now Is The Time
With more options available than past years, now is the time to secure a fantastic brand new High Support Living apartment in a desirable location.
You’ve been searching for the answers but there’s so much ever changing information out there. Here’s your up to date how-to guide on finding the right home for you or your loved one.
What We Can Do For You
Listen to what your housing needs are and help find a solution
Work with our building partners to create your brand new home
Let you choose your own SIL provider for your home
Ongoing SDA support from a team with significant experience in the disability sector, primarily as advocates
FAQs
Am I Eligible?
To be eligible for SDA you must be:
Over 18 years of age and eligible to receive support under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
Approved as eligible to receive Specialist Disability Accommodation(SDA) funding, because you live with an extreme functional impairment or have very high support needs and it is reasonable and necessary to provide you with special housing.
Able to demonstrate that SDA will help pursue your goals, improve your life and mitigate the impact of your impairment on your functional capacity.
If you have an extreme functional impairment, you typically:
Have a lot of trouble doing (or can’t do) daily tasks on your own
Have a very hard time moving around, completing personal care tasks or looking after yourself and need lots of support from someone to do at least one of these things.
If you have very high support needs, you may need a lot of person-to-person support for much of the day and:
Your family or friends may not able to give you this level of support informally, or
Living in SDA can help reduce risk to you or risk to others.
You may also have high support needs if you have previously lived in SDA for extended periods and this has made it challenging for you to transition to other living arrangements.
What Is SDA?
Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) is specially designed housing designed for people with extreme functional impairments or very high support needs.
SDA is NOT the support delivered to you while you’re living at the accommodation, but rather the ‘bricks and mortar’ (the actual building). Each SDA dwelling has unique design features and enhanced access to improve the lives of those who live in it.
The NDIS funds eligible SDA participants to live in these homes. SDA providers are responsible for managing SDA housing.
SDA dwellings must be permanent dwellings, designed to provide long-term accommodation.
What Types of SDA Are There?
SDA can be houses, townhouses, duplexes, villas or apartments.They can be older style houses, or larger facilities, but these are being phased out over time. New build SDA dwellings are restricted to be able to accommodate a maximum of 5 people, and have specific design standards across the four SDA categories, to support the housing needs of people with extreme functional impairments or very high support needs.
What are the Differences Between Various Categories?
There are five different SDA categories:
Fully Accessible: Housing that has been designed to incorporate a high level of physical access provision for people with significant physical impairment.
High Physical Support: Housing that has been designed to incorporate a high level of physical access provision for people with significant physical impairment and requiring very high levels of support.
Improved Liveability: Housing that has been designed to improve living by incorporating a reasonable level of physical access and enhanced provision for people with sensory, intellectual or cognitive impairment.
Robust: Housing that has been designed to incorporate a high level of physical access provision and be very resilient, reducing the likelihood of reactive maintenance and reducing the risk to the participant and the community.
Basic: For people who have lived in existing and legacy SDA housing for many years, so they can continue living there if they want to. Does not have standardised design features, unlike the other SDA categories.
How Do I Apply For SDA Funding?
1. Make sure you have a housing goal in your NDIS plan.Something like – “I want to live more independently, in my own home”.
2. Obtain funding to cover an SDA application in your plan. This should be under the capacity building support section.
3. Compile evidence of your eligibility for SDA e.g. an OT assessment
4. Submit your SDA application via your NDIS Planner to the SDA panel, who will decide if you are eligible or how much you will be funded for.
5. If you are successful, start looking for suitable SDA to move into! If not, or you’re not happy with the decision that has been made, you are able to request a review of the decision.
What Is the Difference Between An SDA Provider Compared to a SIL Provider?
An SDA provider manages the ‘bricks and mortar’ of your housing – the actual physical building you reside in. Your SDA provider should also support you to make sure you are happy in your home and that it is meeting your needs and if relevant, happy with who you are living with in collaboration with your chosen SIL provider. Your SDA provider should ensure you have a safe and secure home for a long as you require it. SDA providers must be registered under the NDIS to provide Specialist Disability Accommodation.
A SIL Provider is an organization registered with the NDIS to provide Supported Independent Living support. It is a term often used to refer to NDIS Providers of core supports that help you with everyday care in your home.
Do I Need To Have the Same SDA Provider and SIL Provider In One?
No, you don’t have to have an SDA provider and SIL (core supports) provider in one. In fact, we believe the two should be run by separate organizations. This will be your home. We strongly believe that you should not have to leave your home if you don’t like the support you are receiving – and one of the ways we help avoid this situation is by making sure the SDA and SIL providers are separate.
Can I Apply On Behalf of a Family Member?
You can submit an EOI on behalf of a family member if you are their formal or informal guardian, or on behalf of your client (e.g., if you are a support coordinator), with the potential tenant's consent. You will need to provide the potential tenant’s details regarding their SDA eligibility or current funding package.
Why Choose Us?
We understand, from experience, that SDA is not just about building houses, it’s about creating a safe, stable and comfortable place you can call home.
The friendly team here at Everhomes can guide you through the process of finding the right SDA for you or your loved one.
Drawing from decades of experience advocating for better disability accommodation from within the government, Everhomes starts on your side, partnering with you and your networks to provide the very best Specialist Disability Accommodation for your needs.
Once you are living in SDA, we will continue supporting you to make sure it is a place that allows you to thrive.
Do I Have to Pay Rent?
Rent is generally set at 25% of the basic disability support pension plus 100% of Commonwealth rent assistance. This is called a Reasonable Rent Contribution’ (RRC). If you don’t receive Commonwealth assistance, the RRC to be paid is the equivalent amount of money.
You will also be required to meet your own costs of living such as utilities, food, etc.
In some exceptional circumstances, you can negotiate to pay extra rent with your SDA provider. This might be done if your SFA funding is lower than what the SDA dwelling was designed for, or if the market value of rent for the dwelling is higher than what the SDA funding and RRC can cover. For example, you may be funded for a two-bedroom apartment but want to live on your own. The NDIS allows you to offer a ‘discretionary contribution’ to subsidise the SDA funding differenceCan I have Another Person Move In With Me?
Yes, where we can make this work we will. If you want to live with a family member, there are a few ways this can work:
If you have enough SDA funding and the people you want to live with you are happy to pay an additional rental payment, we are happy to negotiate case by case for you to have your own home. This will depend on what we have available but we strongly believe people should have the right to live with family if they want to, so we’ll do our best to help with this.
If you are part of a couple, you can share a room with your spouse. This could be living in an apartment or duplex/villa/townhouse together, or possibly in a share house arrangement with another person.
If you are in a house designed to share with others and have people you know also with SDA funding that you would like to live with, we will definitely work with you and them to help arrange this.
Did you know, you can contact us to arrange a one on one phone consultation? We can help you with your unique situation - free of charge. Simply click the link below to book a time that works for you.
