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Necessity Housing
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Shared Costs. Nothing Else Shared.

Two complete, independent homes on a single title. You share the cost of the land, not the kitchen, not the living room, and not the decision about who comes through your front door.

The problem we set out to fix

A Bedroom of Your Own Isn't a Home of Your Own

In typical group SDA you get a bedroom. Everything past that door is common property: one kitchen for the household, one living room, one yard, and a set of house rules about visitors. If you don't get on with the people you're placed with, there is nowhere in the building to go.

We built Robust homes that way ourselves at first. What we kept hearing (from participants, carers and coordinators) was that people with higher support needs were struggling to share living space no matter how well the house was designed. The problem was the sharing.

So we stopped refining shared living and removed it instead.

How it works

One Building, Two Front Doors

A dividing wall runs up the centre. Each side is a whole home with its own entry corridor. The support rooms sit across the front, where both households can reach them without passing through anyone's living space.

Two independent homes on one title. Simplified plan
Two independent homes on one title A simplified plan of 1 Vacca Close, Wollert, drawn with the street at the bottom, following the real floor plan. One building holds two independent homes on one title. At the rear, each home has its own living, kitchen and meals area, measuring 5.0 by 8.4 metres for Home A on the left, 5.0 by 7.7 metres for Home B on the right. In front of those, each home has its own bedroom of 3.7 by 3.6 metres with its own ensuite. Two private corridors, Entry 1 for Home A and Entry 2 for Home B, run up the centre of the building between the two homes, separated by a dividing wall. Towards the street the plan continues in two columns either side of a shared entry: on Home A's side a break-out room of 3.1 by 2.8 metres, a bathroom, and an onsite overnight assistance room of 3.6 by 2.8 metres; on Home B's side a laundry with store and linen, and a double garage of 5.5 by 6.0 metres. Those support rooms and the entry are shared by both homes. A porch opens to the street. Behind the building each home has its own private yard, and the two yards are separated by a dividing fence. Home A private yard Home B private yard FENCE HOME A Living · Kitchen · Meals 5.0 × 8.4 m · yours alone HOME B Living · Kitchen · Meals 5.0 × 7.7 m · yours alone Bedroom 3.7 × 3.6 m Ensuite Bedroom 3.7 × 3.6 m Ensuite Break-out room 3.1 × 2.8 m Bathroom · Linen OOA room (study) 3.6 × 2.8 m Laundry with store and linen Garage 5.5 × 6.0 m · internal access Entry 1 · Home A Entry 2 · Home B SHARED ENTRY Porch STREET Private to each home Shared support rooms Dividing wall

Simplified from the floor plan of 1 Vacca Close, Wollert. Each home is private from its own entry inward; the support rooms across the front are shared. Not to scale. Layouts vary by property.

Yours Alone

Shared with One Neighbour

  • The entry foyer
  • The break-out room
  • The onsite overnight assistance room
  • The laundry and garage

One neighbour, not four housemates, and the support rooms are reached from the shared entry, not through your home.

Side by side

What's Actually Yours

What you get Typical group SDA A Necessity home
Your entry One front door into a shared house Your own entry, opening only into your home
Kitchen One kitchen for the whole household Your own kitchen
Living room Shared with everyone in the house Your own living room
Bedroom and ensuite Your own bedroom, often a shared bathroom Your own bedroom with its own ensuite
Who you live with Up to four or five housemates One neighbour, behind a dividing wall
Who decides who visits The household, or house rules You do
If it isn't working out Nowhere in the building to go Your own door closes behind you
Your entry
Group SDA One front door into a shared house
Ours Your own entry, opening only into your home
Kitchen
Group SDA One kitchen for the whole household
Ours Your own kitchen
Living room
Group SDA Shared with everyone in the house
Ours Your own living room
Bedroom and ensuite
Group SDA Your own bedroom, often a shared bathroom
Ours Your own bedroom with its own ensuite
Who you live with
Group SDA Up to four or five housemates
Ours One neighbour, behind a dividing wall
Who decides who visits
Group SDA The household, or house rules
Ours You do
If it isn't working out
Group SDA Nowhere in the building to go
Ours Your own door closes behind you

Service areas vary by home. In our two-home builds the front entry, break-out room, OOA room, laundry and garage are shared. Each listing says what is shared, and we will send the floor plan.

Support, and who provides it

We're Your Landlord, Not Your Support Provider

We own and maintain the building. Your Supported Independent Living provider is chosen by you and funded separately, and if you ever want to change them, your home doesn't change with it.

Keeping those two things apart matters. When your housing and your support come from the same organisation, changing one can put the other at risk.

Onsite Overnight Assistance

Each build includes an OOA room so support staff can be on site overnight. It is reached from the shared entry, not through either home.

A Break-Out Room

Somewhere for a quiet moment, an appointment, or a conversation that shouldn't happen in the middle of someone's living room.

We Work with Your SIL Provider

We coordinate with them on enrolment, rosters and access, so the handover between housing and support isn't left for you to manage.

See One in Person

A floor plan only tells you so much. Walk through one (with your OT or coordinator if you'd like) and the difference is obvious in about ten seconds.

Find a home How the design evolved