More than four walls: How Alliance Access Homes is building forever homes for people with disability 

When David Cook started looking at long-term housing options for his son Corey, who lives with Autism, he couldn’t find anything that felt right. The options available were functional, but they didn’t feel like home.  

So, David decided to build something better.  

Together with his business partner Peter, David co-founded Alliance Access Homes, a Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) provider based in South Australia with a very clear philosophy: every person with disability deserves a home they can grow in, feel safe in, and truly call their own.  

That vision has now become a reality at their Seaton property in Adelaide, where Nextt is proud to be the Supported Independent Living (SIL) provider.  

In this article, we explore what makes Alliance Access Homes’ approach to SDA different, how their Seaton property has been designed to help with disability live their best life and what a strong SDA and SIL partnership can mean for residents and their families.  

The idea of a forever home

David’s journey into SDA began with a gap he saw in the market and felt personally.  

“I was looking at the long-term accommodation options for people living with disability and felt like there was nothing available that felt like a home. A lot of the options were sterile, and the properties were structured in a way that made me feel like I was in a hospital environment,” David says.  

With a background in property construction and development, and a son who would one day need supported accommodation, David set out to create something genuinely different. The concept he kept coming back to was simple: a forever home.  

A forever home isn’t just about bricks and mortar. It’s about building a space that can grow and change as a person’s needs change over time, so they never have to move somewhere unfamiliar if their disability evolves.  

“Someone may only need Improved Liveability today but potentially over time their needs will change as their disability evolves. And the concept of a forever home is really about the ability for them to stay in that place, but the home evolves with them,” explains David.  

Designed with real life in mind

The Seaton property is made up of three separate homes, each thoughtfully designed to suit a wide range of disability needs. From the outset, David and his team went above and beyond what SDA compliance requires when designing and building the property.  

There are two separate living areas in each home, giving residents private space for themselves and a comfortable area for family or friends to visit. Each bedroom has dimmers, motion-activated lighting in the hallways and laundry, Cat 6 cabling running to every room, and infrastructure ready to support lifters if needed down the track.  

“We added those things intentionally and went above and beyond compliance requirements to give our residents feelings of safety,” David says.  

David also thought carefully about the cost of living for residents, many of whom are on the disability pension. Each home is fitted with solar panels and batteries that provide the bulk of the property’s power needs, with electricity costs discounted by 30 to 35 per cent.  

“Individuals such as my son Corey are on the disability pension. It’s hard enough having enough money to survive off that let alone trying to cover exorbitant electricity bills,” he says.  

It’s a small detail that speaks to something bigger: Alliance Access Homes’ commitment to thinking beyond the build. By reducing one of the most common financial pressures for NDIS participants, David and his team are helping residents hold on to more of their own money and with it, creating more choice and independence in their everyday lives.  

A home that works for families too

One of the things that sets Alliance Access Homes apart as an SDA provider is how much David has thought about the experience for families and nominees, not just the residents themselves.  

The homes have been designed so that visitors have their own bathroom and toilet, separate from the resident’s private space. There are breakout areas inside and out, foldout couch options for overnight guests, and enough room for people to come together without feeling like they’re in each other’s way.  

“It’s a home and a house,” David says. “There needs to be enough breakout areas that family and friends can comfortably go somewhere to socialise – whether it be sitting out in a nice big hall or outside in the backyard or in the living area. This also creates some privacy for residents and their families as well.”  

The Seaton property is also positioned within a small cluster of homes, which David hopes will give residents the chance to build friendships and connections with their neighbours over time.  

Corey, his son, who now lives in one of the Seaton homes, has already started making connections with his neighbours. David says Corey has already walked over to introduce himself to new neighbours, which doesn’t surprise him at all. “He’s that type of character, he’s quite social,” says David.  

What great looks like: outcomes over occupancy

For David, success at Seaton isn’t measure by how quickly the homes are filled. It’s measured by how well the people living in them are doing.   

David is thoughtful about who lives together and why. People with disability can have strong individual personalities and specific needs and David understands that finding the right combination of housemates takes time and care.  

“It’s not about just filling the house up,” David says. “It’s about creating an environment that is healthy and robust for every single individual there and their associated families.”  

From an SDA standpoint, the vision David holds for Seaton over time is that it becomes more than just shared accommodation. He hopes the people who live there, and their families, will develop real connections with each other.  

“Over time, there will be some level of connection between the residents and their families. We’re committed to working with Nextt to find the right personalities to create a home environment where they all almost become like a family in a lot of ways,” he says.  

And when the right people are in the right home with the right supports around them, David believes the house itself fades into the background in the best possible way. “The rest of it, with the house and what we provide fades away and it just becomes a nurturing environment for residents to feel safe in,” he explains.  

Why the SDA and SIL partnership matters

A great SDA home is only part of the picture. What happens inside the home, the day-to-day support, the relationships and the routines, that’s where a good SIL provider makes all the difference.  

For David, choosing the right SIL partner came down to shared values.  

“The important part for us is working with SIL organisations who have the same sort of level of care philosophy around how they look after their clients,” David explains. “The relationship we have with them is symbiotic. What we’re seeking to do is the same as what the SIL provider is doing, so then it becomes pretty seamless.”  

It’s why Alliance Access Homes deliberately only works with registered SIL providers, and why the partnership with Nextt at Seaton makes sense.  

Nextt’s team work closely with Alliance Access Homes to make sure residents are matched with the right housemates and the right support workers. The goal is the same on both sides: help each person live their best life in a home that truly belongs to them.  

Interested in the Seaton property?

The Seaton SDA property in Adelaide has been designed to suit a wide range of needs and disability types. Whether you are a NDIS participant, a family member, or a support coordinator, we would love to help you explore whether Seaton could be the right fit for you or the people you support.  

To learn more, you can:

• Visit the Seaton Property Page 

• Download the Seaton Property Brochure 

You can also get in touch with Olivia, Nextt’s SIL specialist in Adelaide, to talk through your options and find out if Seaton could be the right home for you or someone you support. Call 1300 369 568 or fill in this get in touch form.