Addressing the Housing Affordability Crisis and How NDIS Can Assist

Whether you actively participate in the housing market or not, it would be highly unlikely that you’ve been able to escape the news of Australia’s current housing affordability crisis. While the country has been historically focused on getting back on track after COVID-19’s disruption and the recent election, attention is now turning to addressing the housing crisis.

With so many Australians put under financial stress and uncertainty, spare a thought for the almost 4.5 million Aussies living with disability and trying to find suitable accommodation amidst the crisis.

Thankfully, the NDIS is stepping in to help, by providing SDA housing. Here’s how you can take part while accessing a government-backed investment.

How does Australia’s housing affordability crisis affect those with a disability?

Renters and those looking to buy a home in Australia are keenly aware of just how high the prices for both renting and purchasing have risen in recent times. Even if you’re already in your own home, or have been fortunate enough to not need to seek out a new rental property, we’re almost certain that you’ve noticed the cost of living such as groceries, utilities and fuel go up, and your disposable income go down, lately. Both of these factors contribute greatly to the impact that a housing affordability crisis has on those with a disability; an adult with disability in Australia needs approximately 50% more disposable income just to attain the same standard of living as an adult who isn’t living with disability.

The additional disposable income is required because a person with disability will often require assistive technology in their home, specialised transportation, aids such as wheelchairs, medications, additional heating or cooling due to limited mobility and even dietary requirements that cost more than a standard grocery shop.

On top of the extra financial stress simply to meet their living expenses, people with disability also have a much narrower net to cast when it comes to finding available rentals or properties to purchase. A lack of suitable housing for those with disability has been a serious issue that the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) recognised, which is why they have introduced the SDA Scheme under the NDIS. Keep reading to find out more.

What the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is doing to help

The federal government has fortunately established the Specialist Disability Accommodation scheme under the NDIS to provide suitable accommodation for Australians with disability.

Specialist Disability Accommodation

SDA homes are specialist dwellings, purpose-built under four key design categories to suit eligible NDIS participants who become NDIS-approved tenants.

It’s important to note that because this special disability accommodation is built for those with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs, an SDA dwelling is not constructed with transiency in mind — these houses often become a tenant’s ‘forever home’.

The four design categories of SDA homes are:

1. High physical support

NDIS homes that are built to the high physical support standard incorporate access for those that require high physical support or who have very high support needs.

2. Improved liveability

Improved liveability are aptly named, as they are designed to help improve liveability. They incorporate a level of physical access that is reasonable, as well as enhanced provision for tenants that have sensory, cognitive or intellectual impairment.

3. Fully accessible

For people with significant physical impairment, a fully accessible home is designed to incorporate a high level of access for them.

4. Robust

SDA participants that potentially pose a threat to the building or the community are best placed in a Robust SDA home, as they are built with a reasonable level of access and to be more resilient to reduce maintenance.

NDIS service providers help source NDIS-approved tenants.

SDA Funding

• SDA payments are made to NDIS participants to help them cover the cost of renting NDIS properties. Tenants are also required to pay a reasonable rent contribution out of their Government assistance.
• The NDIS will also pay SDA funds to a registered SDA provider provided the property they provide is enrolled and SDA compliant.

The benefits of using an SDA property as your next investment property

SDA properties may represent a terrific investment opportunity for private investment, as they not only provide a potential forever home for a person with disability, but they offer high rental yields that are backed by the federal government. An NDIS Investment Property can attract yields of 10-20%. The Australian Government has pledged 26 million dollars towards SDA funding until 2036, meaning that the rental income on your property investment is there to stay and makes an NDIS SDA Property unlike any other investment property and rivalling the most attractive investment options.

Housing stock in the SDA market is still not meeting the high demand, which presents a fantastic opportunity to truly tackle the housing affordability crisis for Australians with disability by forgetting a standard investment property and making

How to start your NDIS housing investment journey

If benevolence has got the better of you and you’re looking to invest in an NDIS property to help address the housing affordability crisis for Australia’s with disability, Apollo Investment are perfectly positioned to assist. As specialists in NDIS property investment, we offer custom NDIS Housing & Land Packages to private investors wishing to make a difference to their property portfolio and Aussies with disability.

Our end-to-end service means we not only help you purchase approved SDA housing, but we also put you in touch with a specialist property management firm, approved by the NDIS as well as other relevant industry professionals.

Start your NDIS investment journey today by contacting the team at Apollo Investment.