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Share the Land, Not the Household

Two complete, independent homes on a single title. You share the land and a few service areas, 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.

Not every home is built this way. Some of our earlier homes are back to back: one front entry, with the rear home reached through the front home's living area. And most of our High Physical Support homes are shared by two or three participants. Each listing says which kind of home it is, and shows the floor plan where we have one.

Two independent homes on one title. Simplified plan
Two independent homes on one title A simplified plan of the Robust home in our newest two-home design, from the endorsed plans for 14 Allen Street, California Gully, drawn with the street at the bottom. One building holds two independent homes on one title. At the rear, each home has its own living and dining area with a kitchenette, measuring 4.3 by 4.8 metres for Home A on the left and 4.2 by 5.4 metres for Home B on the right, and each opens through its own door to its own deck and private yard, a second way in and out besides the front entry. In front of those, each home has its own bedroom of 3.4 by 4.0 metres and its own ensuite. Each home is behind its own door off a shared hall, and its private hallway runs up the centre of the building beside a dividing wall between the two homes. Towards the street the plan continues either side of the shared entry: on Home A's side a kitchen with its own door outside, and an onsite overnight assistance room of 2.9 by 3.7 metres with its own ensuite and a desk; on Home B's side a laundry with store and linen, and a garage of 5.5 by 6.0 metres with internal access. Those support rooms and the entry are shared by both homes. A porch opens to the street. Behind the building the two homes' yards are separated by a fence. Home A deck and yard Home B deck and yard FENCE HOME A Living · Dining with kitchenette 4.3 × 4.8 m · yours alone HOME B Living · Dining with kitchenette 4.2 × 5.4 m · yours alone Bedroom 3.4 × 4.0 m Ensuite Bedroom 3.4 × 4.0 m Ensuite Kitchen shared OOA ensuite · Desk OOA room 2.9 × 3.7 m Laundry with store and linen Garage 5.5 × 6.0 minternal access Own door · Home A Own door · Home B SHARED ENTRY Porch STREET Private to each home Shared support rooms Dividing wall Door

Simplified from the endorsed plans for our newest Robust design at 14 Allen Street, California Gully. Each home is private from its own door inward, with its own door out to its deck and yard; the support rooms across the front are shared. Not to scale. Layouts vary by property.

Yours Alone

  • Your own entry door and hallway
  • Your own kitchenette
  • Your own living and dining area
  • Your own bedroom
  • Your own ensuite
  • Your own deck and yard, with your own door out to it

Shared with One Neighbour

  • The entry and hall
  • A kitchen
  • The onsite overnight assistance room, with its own ensuite
  • The laundry, store 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 Our two-home builds
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

This compares our side-by-side two-home builds. Some earlier builds are back to back instead: one front entry, with the rear home reached through the front home's living area. Most of our High Physical Support homes are shared homes for two or three participants. Service areas vary too: in the two-home builds the entry, breakout room, OOA room, laundry and garage are shared. Each listing says which kind of home it is and what's shared, and we'll 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

Our two-home builds include an OOA room so support staff can be on site overnight. It opens off the shared entry, not off either home's living space.

A Breakout 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