How to apply for SDA housing
The steps to ask the NDIS for Specialist Disability Accommodation funding, and what happens after you do.
You do not apply for SDA to a housing provider. You ask the NDIS to include SDA funding in your plan, and the NDIA decides. It comes down to three things: working out what you need, talking to your my NDIS contact, and giving the NDIA evidence from a treating health professional. Once SDA funding is in your plan, you can start looking for a home.
Step 1: Work out what you need
Before you speak to anyone, it helps to write things down. The NDIS suggests making a list of:
- The support you need because of your disability, including the daily tasks you need help with
- Your goals, including where you would like to live and who you would like to live with
- The informal and community support you already have, from family, friends or local organisations
Step 2: Talk to your my NDIS contact
Your my NDIS contact can explain the full range of home and living supports, not just SDA, and help you work out which ones fit. That includes supports from state and territory agencies, from your local community, and the NDIS supports already in your plan. If you have a support coordinator, bring them into this conversation early.
Step 3: Provide your evidence
This is the step that decides the outcome, and it is where applications most often fall down. The NDIA needs recent evidence from a treating health professional, usually an occupational therapist, who may need to complete an assessment as well as write a report.
The NDIS asks that the evidence explains all three of the following. Missing the third is the most common gap:
- Your daily support and housing needs, including how often and at what times of day you need support
- What you can and cannot do because of your disability, and how that affects your daily life and your housing needs
- What other home and living options you have explored, and why they do not meet your disability related support needs
If you already have home and living supports and your needs have changed, your evidence has to be dated after your last plan was approved, and it needs to spell out what has changed and the effect on your daily life.
Where to send it
You can submit your evidence in whichever way suits you. Tell the NDIA why you are sending it:
- Through the NDIS service hub online
- By post to NDIA, GPO Box 700, Canberra ACT 2601
- In person to your my NDIS contact or your local NDIS office
Read the NDIS guidance on asking for home and living supports
What happens next
The NDIA reviews your evidence and decides whether home and living supports go into your plan. If something is missing, they will tell you what they still need.
If SDA is included, you will be invited to a plan meeting with an NDIA planner, who will explain the decisions behind your plan. If it is not included, the NDIA has to tell you why, and you can request a review of that decision. A knock back at the first attempt is not the end of the road, and it is often an evidence problem rather than a needs problem.
Once you have SDA funding
With SDA in your plan, you can start looking. There are a few ways to find a home:
- The NDIS SDA finder, where you can search by location, building type and price
- A referral from your support coordinator or recovery coach
- Recommendations from family, friends or other participants
- Providers directly, including the homes listed on this site
When you find somewhere, you will record the provider on your plan and sign a written service agreement that sets out your rent contribution.
Where we fit in
Better Living Solutions is an NDIS registered SDA provider. We build and manage SDA homes across New South Wales and Victoria, and we work with SIL provider partners who deliver the support inside them.
We cannot approve SDA funding and we cannot influence the NDIA decision. What we can do is show you what our homes look like in detail, tell you honestly whether a property suits the design category and support needs you have described, and put you in touch with the SIL provider at that home. If you are still waiting on a decision, you are welcome to look and to ask questions.
Common questions
How do I apply for SDA housing?
You do not apply to a housing provider. You ask the NDIS to include SDA funding in your plan by talking to your my NDIS contact and giving the NDIA recent evidence from a treating health professional, usually an occupational therapist. The NDIA decides. Once SDA funding is in your plan, you can look for a home.
What evidence do I need for an SDA application?
Recent evidence from a treating health professional that explains your daily support and housing needs including timing, what you can and cannot do because of your disability and how that affects your housing needs, and what other home and living options you have explored and why they do not meet your needs.
How long does an SDA application take?
The NDIA does not publish a fixed timeframe, and it depends on the quality of your evidence and whether they need to come back to you for more. Getting a thorough occupational therapist report at the start is the single biggest thing you can do to avoid delays.
What if my SDA application is refused?
The NDIA must tell you why it did not fund the supports you asked for, and you can request a review of the decision. A refusal is often about gaps in the evidence rather than your level of need, so it is worth asking your occupational therapist to address the specific reasons given.
Talk to us
Whether you have SDA funding already or you are still working through the process, you are welcome to get in touch or look through the homes we have available.