Disability, Independence, and a Shared Home

A disability is not a reason to rule out home sharing. It is also not, by itself, a reason to share. Like anyone else, a person with a disability might share a home for the income, the company, or the chance to live more independently, or might decide that living alone suits them better.

Disability can show up on either side of a match. For example, a home provider who uses a wheelchair may have a single-level home with a ramp and a roll-in shower, which is what some home seekers are looking for. A home seeker with a disability may be ready to live outside a family home or group setting. Neither person is the solution to the other's problem. Each has something the other may value.

If your experience of disability is meaningful to you, home sharing can be one way to put it to use. It is one possible basis for compatibility, not an obligation. Some people prefer not to make their disability part of their housing conversations at all, and what to share, and when, is their choice.

Why this matters

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, among adults 65 and older who are not veterans, 32.5% report a disability, including difficulty walking, seeing, hearing, remembering, or living independently¹.

What it can look like

The New York Foundation for Senior Citizens runs a home sharing program that has included a track for home providers 55 and older who want to share their homes with adults with developmental disabilities who are able to live independently. According to a Brick Underground report, its social workers make home visits, conduct interviews, run background checks, and match lifestyle preferences using 31 criteria². Ask any program you contact whether it offers something similar today.

Here is an illustrative example, a composite and not a real match. A retired bus mechanic, 77, uses a wheelchair and lives in a single-level home he adapted years ago. His match, 34, has an intellectual disability, works at a grocery store, and wanted to live on his own for the first time. A disability services agency helped arrange the match and checks in with the home seeker regularly. He pays rent and takes the trash out. The home provider handles the utility bills. On Sundays they cook together. Neither one is the other's caregiver.

What to know first

Home sharing is housing. It is not caregiving, case management, counseling, or treatment. Trading help around the house for lower rent, or paying someone for help, can create employment, tax, and insurance obligations whether or not anyone intended it. Hands-on care, such as bathing, dressing, or managing medications, is a separate, paid arrangement. How the rules apply depends on the program and your state. Ask: Would this count as employment? Who pays, and who is the employer? Ask your disability services agency or legal aid, and read the U.S. Department of Labor's shared living guidance.

Go through a partner. These matches are materially more complex than matching two adults on their own. If a home seeker has a developmental or intellectual disability, or relies on regular support services, work with a home sharing program together with a disability services agency or center for independent living that supports both people. You are the person they share a home with, not their caseworker, and they are not yours.

Assess accessibility honestly. Together, think about steps, bathroom layout, lighting, where the bedrooms are, and how each person would get out in an emergency.

Benefits depend on the program. Rent and shared household costs can affect SSI, Medicaid, waiver services, or housing assistance, for either person. The answer depends on the program and your state. Here is what to ask: Will paying or receiving rent change my SSI or Medicaid? Does sharing food or utilities count as support I receive? Will this affect my housing assistance or my waiver services? Ask the Social Security office, your state Medicaid office, your housing agency, or a benefits counselor.

Fair housing questions. Disability is protected under federal fair housing law³, and questions about reasonable accommodations or assistance animals can come up. Wanting to live with someone who does, or does not, have a disability can raise fair housing questions, and a preference is not necessarily lawful just because it is shared privately rather than in a listing. Before you describe the person you hope to share with, read our post "Choosing who lives with you, fairly" and talk with your program or a local fair housing organization. Describing the home in a listing ("single-level home with a ramp") is good practice, though it does not settle the legal question.

Plan for change. Write down what happens if either person's needs change, and how a move-out would work. Your agreement can say how much notice each of you will give. That is a promise between the two of you. It does not replace any notice your state or city law requires, and the law may require more.

How to get started

1. Contact your local disability network. Ask centers for independent living and disability service agencies whether they partner with a home sharing program.
2. Call the Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116 to reach your Area Agency on Aging and ask about home sharing programs near you.
3. Ask the program: Do you match people with disabilities? Which agency provides case management? What happens if needs change?
4. Put everything in a written agreement, including which household tasks each person handles and what help is not part of the arrangement.

Conversation starters

If you are an adult child or friend raising home sharing with an older adult:

• "Your house already works for someone who uses a wheelchair. Would you consider sharing it?"
• "The agency would handle the support side. You would just be sharing the house."
• "If we look into it and it is not for you, that is a fine answer."

If you are an older adult talking with family or caregivers:

• "I'm not looking for a nurse. I'm looking for someone to share the house with."
• "The agency stays involved, so neither of us is managing the other's support."
• "I want to decide for myself whether this fits. If it doesn't, I'll say so."

Neither one is the other's caregiver. They are two people who share a home, on terms they both agreed to.

Home sharing and older adults

Home sharing works at any age. Older adults are one of the fastest-growing groups sharing a home with someone who is not family⁴.

Last reviewed September 25, 2026