NDIS Housing Shortage: Queensland's Disabled Community Struggles to Find Suitable Accommodation

People with extreme function impairment and complex support needs in Queensland are being frozen out of the housing market because not enough land is being made available by property and land developers to meet the specific needs of the disabled.



SDA Scheme Faces Challenges Due to Lack of Land for Purpose-Built Housing

The head of one of Australia’s largest National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) providers, Emma Hocking, says there is an acute shortage of suitable and affordable land to meet the needs of approximately 30,000 Australians who qualify for special housing assistance under the NDIS SDA scheme.

The SDA scheme was rolled out in Queensland in 2019, funded by the Federal Government with $700 million every year out of the NDIS budget to provide purpose-built accommodation for the disabled.

It meets the needs of thousands of Australians with a disability who have been forced to seek full-time care in public hospitals, nursing homes, and aged care accommodations in Queensland.

“There is a real problem in Queensland in finding enough of the right type and size of land to provide SDA housing,” says Ms Hocking, CEO of SDA Smart Homes, which has been building SDA homes throughout Australia since 2019 when the program started.

The Impact of Land Developer Priorities on NDIS Participants' Housing Needs

“Land developers have favoured the owner-occupier market and have shunned the investor market over the last few years and that has impacted the SDA program.”

“Many of the NDIS participants who qualify for our High Physical Support (purpose-built) homes require wheelchairs, so the land needs to be relatively flat and the size required is between 400 square metres and 600 square metres. Competition from developers and the frenzy created by state-funded housing grants have squeezed out our community.”

Property and Land Developers Urged to Free Up Land for SDA Homes to Meet Demand

“Demand for these properties is at an all-time high and it is time for property and land developers to show some heart and free up more land for SDA Homes. In doing so, they are also freeing up public hospital beds and beds in nursing homes and aged care facilities in Queensland,” says Ms Hocking.

“We have plenty of investors who want to fund these homes and the SDA properties are always well-built. The SDA homes look like any other home from the street and are well maintained because of the strict building guidelines from the NDIS,” says Ms Hocking.

“Research suggests that demand for these homes will increase by 62% over the next ten years so we need property and land developers in areas of Queensland to play their part and free up the land supply for SDA homes,” says Ms Hocking

Source: National Tribune. (2023, April 7). Property and Land Developers Urged to Show Some Heart and Make Land Available for Persons with a Disability in Queensland. Retrieved from