Host Arrangement vs Co-Residency vs Living Alone: The 3 Ways to Structure an ILO
Most families hear “Independent Living Option” and assume it means one specific thing. It doesn’t. An ILO is really an umbrella for three quite different ways of living, and choosing between them is often the biggest decision in the whole process. This guide compares Host Arrangements, Co-Residency Arrangements, and Living Alone With Flexible Support side by side, so you can work out which structure actually fits your life, not just which one you’ve heard of first.
At Innovative Disability Services & Accommodation, a registered NDIS provider (Reg. No. 0405 016 4686) based in Cockburn Central, we guide Perth participants through every ILO stage, from first exploring what’s possible through to full implementation. If you’d like to talk through your own situation, call 0481 780 816 or email info@innovativedisability.com.au.
What Is a Host Arrangement, and Who Is It Suited To?
In a Host Arrangement, the participant lives within a carefully matched host family’s home. This isn’t a group home and it isn’t a rental, it’s built on compatibility: personality, lifestyle, communication style, and daily rhythm all drive the matching process before anyone moves in.
The appeal here is genuine belonging. A Host Arrangement gives a participant a sense of family life and social connection without the formality of a shared, provider-run house. It tends to suit participants who want daily companionship and a stronger sense of “home” than living alone offers, but who don’t need the intensive, rostered support that Supported Independent Living provides.
What Is a Co-Residency Arrangement, and How Is It Different From a Host Arrangement?
This is the arrangement people most often confuse with a Host Arrangement, and the distinction actually matters. In a Co-Residency Arrangement, a paid support person lives in or adjacent to the participant’s own home, providing consistent, close-at-hand support, but the participant retains ownership and control of their own environment.
In other words: in a Host Arrangement, the participant moves into someone else’s home. In a Co-Residency Arrangement, the support person moves into the participant’s home, or into a directly adjacent space. That single difference changes who sets the household rhythm and who ultimately controls the environment, which is often the deciding factor for families weighing the two up. It’s also worth understanding how this compares to Supported Independent Living (SIL), where the home itself is provider-managed rather than participant-owned or controlled.
Which Arrangement Suits Different Life Stages or Support Needs?
There’s no single “right” answer here, it depends on where someone is in life and how their support needs actually show up day to day. A younger adult building independence for the first time, with mostly intermittent support needs, often gravitates toward Living Alone With Flexible Support. Someone who values close daily connection and a family-style household, without needing intensive hands-on care, may find a Host Arrangement is the better fit.
Co-Residency tends to suit participants who want consistent, nearby support without giving up control of their own home, for example, someone who has an established home already and wants to stay there long-term with the right support layered in. Eligibility across all three sits at the same starting point: participants aged 18 or over (or 17 and planning ahead) with moderate daily support needs who want a flexible, self-directed arrangement, confirmed through a Request for Home and Living Supports form submitted to the NDIS.
How Does the NDIS Process Work Once You've Chosen a Direction?
Every ILO, regardless of which of the three shapes it eventually takes, moves through the same two stages. Stage 1 is Exploration and Design, funded in bands of 30, 50, or up to 100 hours. It covers goal exploration, identifying the right living arrangement, consulting the people involved, a risk assessment, and preparing a formal Service Proposal for the NDIA. This stage can be self-managed, plan-managed, or NDIA-managed.
Stage 2 is Implementation, Monitoring and Review, where agreed supports are delivered, formal agreements between the participant, provider, and any host or housemate are maintained, and regular monitoring keeps the arrangement working as intended. It’s genuinely worth using the same provider across both stages: continuity means the team who designed your arrangement is also the one implementing and adjusting it. You can read more about how NDIS funding categories fit together more broadly in our NDIS Perth guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
SIL is structured, 24/7 rostered support in a provider-managed home. ILO is participant-first: support is designed from scratch around your own vision, and can blend paid and informal support. ILO suits participants who want more autonomy than SIL provides.
Yes. Because ILO starts with your own vision rather than a fixed model, arrangements can be tailored, and can evolve over time as your circumstances or preferences change during Stage 2 monitoring and review.
Formal agreements are required between the participant and provider, and between the participant and any host or housemate. These are prepared in plain language, explained fully before signing, and reviewed regularly.
Participants aged 18 or over (or 17 and planning ahead) with moderate daily support needs who want a flexible, self-directed home-based arrangement. A Request for Home and Living Supports form is submitted to the NDIS.
Call 0481 780 816 or email info@innovativedisability.com.au. Our Cockburn Central team will talk through your goals, relationships, and daily support needs before recommending a direction.