A Hunter-based not-for-profit service is searching for 12 sites to build a new generation of homes it says will improve the lives of people and their families living with profound disabilities.
ConnectAbility Australia has partnered with investment firm Lighthouse Infrastructure and housing provider Inclusive Housing Australia to develop duplex-style homes with flexible living arrangements to cater to the particular needs of clients.
ConnectAbility chief executive officer David Carey said the new approach would give people living with high-needs disabilities more choices and save the government money by making it easier to co-locate clients.
"All the houses 30 years ago were bought with a view of just go out and buy something because we need to fill it for people with disabilities," he said.
"By and large all of them were open-plan design.
"What we're doing with this build is it's almost a duplex or triplex. We can have three on one side and three on the other, or two plus two plus two.
"They live with their friends, but they live in smaller numbers."
Standard group homes are state-owned and have three to five bedrooms under one roof with shared living rooms, kitchens and bathrooms.
Mr Carey said this layout presented challenges trying to combine people with varying needs in one household.
"If you're going to live with three other people, you want to get on with them," he said.
"This model will take away a lot of saying no to people.
"At the moment we say no to a majority of people because, for whatever reason, way too old or way too young or aggressive behaviours ...
"All those different variations can make it really difficult to say yes, but this housing design will allow modern design that gives maximum flexibility for people with disabilities to choose something and not be in a home that was a good idea at the time."
He said particular behaviours "tend to impact the whole group, including staff," in a group home.
"This new approach means staffing and cost-wise the benefit to the NDIS is really good because we've got the right ratios and the right level of support for the right people in the one site.
"We're not asking staff to go all over the place."
The housing will be built under the federal government's Specialist Disability Accommodation subsidy scheme, which is designed to stimulate private investment in housing for high-need clients.
National Disability Insurance Service data show 731 people have SDA funding approval in the Hunter but 217 of them are not using it.
ConnectAbility will replace some of its 20 existing homes with the new flexible houses after consulting clients and families about their design needs.
The new homes will cater for people who cannot find a suitable house and those in existing accommodation which does not match their needs.
ConnectAbility client Mitch Thomas has been living with a C4 spinal cord injury for the past 12 years in a private rental property with no air-conditioning in the bedrooms.
The 31-year-old from East Maitland sleeps near the living room air-conditioner to regulate his body temperature and cannot enter the bathroom through a narrow doorway.
"It would mean the whole world to me to finally have a suitable accommodation that is built for my disability," he said.
"I'm living in a private rental which is not built for someone with a disability, making everyday living that much more difficult."
Mr Carey said people and families living with disabilities had increasing choice in housing options, several years after accommodation centres such as Stockton and Tomaree shut their doors.
"The landscape of disability housing is changing for the better.
"Today, we understand housing needs more deeply through co-design with those who have lived experience."
Lighthouse Infrastructure invested in homes for Stockton residents when the centre closed.
The company's senior adviser on disability accommodation, Jim Breen, said the 12 Hunter home sites would provide accommodation for about 60 people.
"The first group is for people living in houses with ConnectAbility, but ConnectAbility will bring in new residents over time because that's the nature of demand," he said.
"The newer the accommodation the better it is. We've learnt a lot."
