How Much Does it Cost to Build an NDIS Investment Property?

If you’re considering investing in specialist disability accommodation (SDA) under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), you may be wondering about building costs.  We take you through how much you might be up for when looking to build NDIS property.

How much does it cost to build an SDA home?

This depends on the type of SDA that you build. There are four different categories to suit different SDA tenant needs:

Improved Liveability

These homes are designed for tenants with sensory, intellectual or cognitive disabilities.

Fully Accessible

These dwellings are designed for tenants with physical disabilities.

Robust

This SDA is for tenants with behavioural issues. They are designed to withstand damage and be highly resilient.

High Physical Support

These homes are designed for tenants with the highest support needs.

Each category must have features that meet specific SDA Design Standards in order to be approved. In general, each SDA design category gets progressively more expensive from the first category through to the fourth, but not necessarily.

SDA building costs also depend on the features of the home being built and the land that it’s being built on. For example:

• 3-bedroom SDA homes will usually cost more than 2-bedroom SDA homes.
• Homes built on sloping land typically cost more than those built on flat ground.
• Some soil types are easier to build on than others.
• Two-storey homes will generally cost more to build than a single-storey home.

However, the principles above apply to any home build, not just SDA homes.

Does it cost more to build an SDA home than a standard home?

In general, yes, because of the specific SDA design features that you must include to get approval for your home from SDA assessors. However, once you do, you can then generally get above-average, long-term and government-guaranteed rental returns.

SDA homes often require:

• larger land block sizes,
• larger floor plans to cater for mobility needs,
• wider doorways,
• more robust building materials,
• greater home automation features,
• custom fit-outs (for example, wheelchair-accessible kitchen and bathroom bench heights), and
• longer build times to cater for the specialised SDA requirements.

How much demand is there for SDA homes?

There is currently a shortage of SDA homes across Australia. Some areas are in more high demand than others. To reduce vacancy risk, it’s a good idea to build in an area where there is high demand. You can check out the latest SDA demand data online anytime.

SDA homes are often in high demand in capital cities because they are close to the facilities and support that their tenants need. Land prices in capital cities are usually higher than land in regional areas, but so are the likely rental returns.

If you’re looking to invest in SDA, finding the right area for the best capital growth and investment return is our speciality. We help you weigh up all of your potential costs and rental income to help you make the best decisions to maximise your return on investment.  
Building an NDIS investment property is typically more expensive than building a standard home, but the investment returns are generally much higher and more secure than that of regular investment properties. If you’re interested in learning more about the costs and potential rental returns of NDIS investment property, please get in touch with us today.