Core Supports Budget: NDIS Home and Living 101

Key Takeaways  

• Home and Living is a dedicated Core Support category under the NDIS PACE system.  
• Home and Living supports are stated supports and must be used as specified. 
• While Home and Living can help you to access suitable accommodation (such as SIL, ILO or MTA), the NDIA does not pay for general living costs such as rent, mortgage or groceries. 

Only a very small percentage of participants will receive funded support for their actual accommodation – this is usually for Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA). It’s much more common for the NDIS to fund supports that enable you to live as independently as possible. This is where Home and Living comes in. 

Where does Home and Living fit under PACE?  

PACE is the computer system National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) plans are being transitioned to. Many NDIS participants will already be on PACE (these were rolled out for new and renewing plans from late 2023).  

If you have transitioned from a legacy plan to PACE, you may notice some of your funds are either grouped differently or in new categories (like Home and Living). We have a more in-depth explanation of what’s changed, and what’s still the same, in our PACE 101 article. 

The Core Supports category under PACE now includes:  

• Assistance with Daily Life 
• Transport 
• Consumables 
• Assistance with Social, Economic & Community Participation 
• Home and Living  

What does NDIS Home and Living cover?  

This category helps you by supporting independence, safety, and allowing you to access the appropriate housing for your needs as a NDIS participant.   

Home and Living covers options from the following, depending on your needs and situation:  

Supported Independent Living (SIL)  

SIL is a solution for participants who live independently within shared accommodation or group homes, where they can share NDIS supports. The NDIS support will cover the cost of staff in these situations, not other living expenses like food, rent, clothing, or personal furniture.  

Individualised Living Options (ILO)  

ILOs are more personalised and flexible home and living support packages. If you are eligible for ILO, this allows you to explore and design different options for how you want to live – and who you want to live with. This might be family, friends, a partner, a host situation, or even on your own with the right individualised supports.  

Medium Term Accommodation (MTA)  

MTA is usually funded for up to 90 days. This support helps you with somewhere to live if you have a long-term place to move into but can’t do yet because your disability supports aren’t ready. This is different from short-term accommodation or emergency housing.  

Why is Home and Living Supports in its own category now?  

Home and Living supports used to be largely covered under the Assistance with Daily Life category. Splitting it into its own category better reflects what the support is actually for:  

• Assistance with Daily Life is focused on support in your home, such as help with personal care tasks, household chores, or yard maintenance – things that are too difficult or dangerous for you to do on your own.  
• Home and Living is for specific, stated supports to help you live in appropriate housing.   

Adding NDIS Home and Living to your plan 

You can request a review of your NDIS plan at any time or wait until your next planning meeting. 

Keep in mind, there are a few eligibility criteria that must be met to access Home and Living supports:  

1. You must be an active participant with a current NDIS plan.  
2. The support you’re asking for must be linked to your goals.  
3. You should provide good evidence to support your request for support (the type of evidence you need may be different between SIL, ILO and MTA – check ahead of time so you have this ready to go!) 

Your funding request will be assessed on several factors including your disability needs, any supports you’re currently receiving from informal or community sources, and whether the requested support is ‘reasonable and necessary’.  

Related: Reasonable and Necessary Supports Under the NDIS 

Linking your goals to your home and living supports  

Goals give you something to work towards, and something you can measure your progress against. The NDIS uses goals to help determine what supports would best assist participants in living their best, most independent life. 

Not every personal goal you have will match up with appropriate NDIS funding, so it’s important to match your goals to the help you need. For example, you might have a goal around living more independently that could be supported by Home and Living.   

Providing good evidence for NDIS support 

You’ll need relevant evidence to support your request for home and living supports. This means it must be recent, and from a relevant treating professional. For example, a home and living assessment from an occupational therapist. 

Your evidence needs to show and explain:  

• What your daily support and housing needs are (and how often/when you need these each day).  
• Your functional capacity (what you can and can’t do because of your disability), and the impact of this on your daily life and housing needs.  
• What other options you’ve explored, and why they don’t work for your needs. 

You’ll also need to provide evidence if you want to change the home and living supports you’re already getting. If you need help, you can always talk to your local area coordinator (LAC), your support coordinator or your recovery coach.  

Related: What is a Functional Capacity Assessment (FCA)?

What won’t the NDIA pay for?  

Whether for Home and Living or for other areas you need help in, you won’t be able to use your NDIS funds to pay for things like:  

• Rent or mortgage payments  
• Utility bills
• Groceries  
• Standard household expenses  

This is because these costs are ones that everyone must pay regardless of whether they are living with disability or not. It therefore doesn’t fall under the scope of what the NDIA can fund for disability support. 

Related: What can NDIS funding be used for? 

How NDSP helps you make the most of your plan funds  

If you have Home and Living supports in your plan, NDSP’s tools and team of experts can help you track this alongside your other budgets. 

NDSP’s user-friendly Nappa portal offers real-time budget tracking so you can see exactly what’s in your budget, 24/7, on any device. We also offer informative and free resources from our participant toolbox to help you learn about all things NDIS.  

Our national network empowers participants across Australia to put their energy into what matters to them – like enjoying a more independent lifestyle – by taking care of time-consuming admin like tracking budgets, keeping financial records and submitting invoices.  

If you have questions, we have answers! Our friendly plan management experts help you make the most out of your NDIS budgets, so you can focus on living your best life. Why not contact NDSP today to find out more about how we can help your NDIS journey run more smoothly.