Looking after the house and garden: What will the NDIS cover?

Here at Leap in! HQ, we often get asked questions about help and assistance with jobs around the house and garden.

The two questions we hear the most are:

1. Does the NDIS cover home cleaning, maintenance and gardening?
2. How do I find the right supports to help with home cleaning, maintenance and gardening?

Today we’ll look at both.

Does the NDIS cover home cleaning, maintenance and gardening?

The NDIA will consider many factors before deciding whether or not to include any funding in your plan. They must be satisfied that a support is reasonable and necessary and will assist you to pursue your goals, objectives and aspirations.

We’ve written an article if you need help to understand What is ‘reasonable and necessary’?. 

However, if you receive funding for Assistance with Daily Living in your plan, and your disability stops you from doing a task where a person without a disability would be able to do it themselves, then you can use your funding to hire supports to help with gardening, cleaning and home maintenance.

Home cleaning support and the NDIS.

If you are unable to clean your home or find certain cleaning tasks difficult because of your disability and have Core – Assistance with Daily Living funding in your plan, you may be able to pay for house cleaning with your NDIS funds.

This could include regular tasks like vacuuming, dusting, bathroom and kitchen cleaning. It could also include occasional tasks if you are unable to do them yourself such as window cleaning or oven cleaning.

Home maintenance and the NDIS.

Whether you can pay for home maintenance tasks with your NDIS funding depends on whether a person without a disability would also have to hire someone to do that task.

For example, the NDIS won’t generally cover the cost of an electrician to install new lighting, a plumber to fix a broken pipe or a roofing contractor to repoint your roof.

However, you may be able to hire a handyman or maintenance person to help with other tasks such as changing light bulbs or minor repairs.

Gardening support and the NDIS.

If you are unable to mow the lawn, trim edges or complete other regular garden and yard tasks because of your disability, you may be able to use you Core – Assistance with Daily Living funding to get someone in to help.

Services can include general gardening, mulching, edging, hedge trimming, lawn mowing and weed spraying.

The NDIS will not cover tasks that anyone would need a specialist trade to do such as laying turf or landscaping. While the NDIS may cover the time taken to remove green waste, it will not cover associated tip or disposal fees.

Requesting supports in your NDIS Plan.

If you already have Core funding in your NDIS Plan and meet the above requirements, you may be able to spend your funding flexibly on home cleaning, maintenance and gardening.

If not, you can apply for home and living supports by completing the NDIS home and living supports form or talking to your LAC or planner at your next plan reassessment meeting.

How do I find the right supports to help me?

This is where being plan managed by Leap in! can really help. Plan management means that you can access your NDIS funds to use both registered and unregistered providers and don’t have to worry the claiming of invoices and payment of providers.

We’ll even help you to connect with the perfect provider for your needs.

We can help you.

Call us on 1300 05 78 78 to have your questions answered, to book your free NDIS pre-planning session or sign up to Leap in! plan management today.

Originally published 16 April 2019, updated 16 September 2022.

Further reading.

Getting help around the yard: What will the NDIS cover?

What supports will the NDIS fund in the home?

Home cleaning and the NDIS.