What it costs to build SDA housing in Australia

The NDIA's 2023 benchmark puts SDA construction at $376,056 for a one-resident Improved Liveability villa up to $1,233,172 for a three-resident High Physical Support house, excluding land and GST. Perth builders quote $2,500 to $4,000 per m2. With the reported 2026-27 uplift, that house's NDIA price limit is about $173,055 a year before the location factor.

Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) is housing built to a national design standard for NDIS participants with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs. The NDIA pays the owner a capped annual price for each enrolled dwelling, so build cost, design category and location together set the return. That is why the NDIA benchmarks a three-resident house at $1.23 million to build while a Perth builder guide puts a High Physical Support home at $600,000 to $1.1 million. This guide sets out both views, the price limits, what finished homes are listed at, the vacancy and policy risks, and how a build is funded.

What SDA housing costs to build

The only national cost benchmark is the NDIA's own. For its 2023 pricing review architects drew a reference design for every building type and design category, and quantity surveyor MBM costed them as at 1 July 2023. Figures exclude land, GST and fire sprinklers, include 15 per cent contingency, assume Class 3 construction and are per dwelling with no on-site overnight assistance (OOA) room.

High Physical Support costs 13 to 29 per cent more than Improved Liveability on the same building type (our arithmetic). A house costs far more than a villa: the benchmark house is larger, adds an office and carries its own site works, while villas share site works across a cluster. These are 2023 dollars, so a 2026 quote will differ.

Builders quote lower. Boda Building Group puts SDA construction in the Perth metro area at about $2,500 to $4,000 per m2 and a 150 to 180 m2 High Physical Support home at $600,000 to $1.1 million excluding land (18 June 2026). Another Boda guide has a standard three-bedroom High Physical Support build at $450,000 to $720,000, and modular builder EcoPrestige quotes $2,200 to $3,300 per m2 (both June 2026). The benchmark looks high per m2 because MBM spreads fees, preliminaries, a garage and external works over internal floor area only: $6,874 per m2 for the three-resident High Physical Support house, before contingency. Treat the benchmark as what the NDIA assumed and a fixed-price contract as the number that counts.

Price the extras. Boda lists height-adjustable kitchens at $10,000 to $50,000, ceiling hoists at $2,000 to $6,000 installed and backup power batteries at $5,000 to $15,000. EY found GST on SDA construction is generally not recoverable, which adds 10 per cent unless an exception applies, so take tax advice before signing a build contract. MBM adds 9 to 22 per cent to trade costs in cyclone regions. Assessor fees are not published.

What the NDIA pays: price limits and location factors

The NDIA pays a maximum annual price for each SDA resident: a base price multiplied by a location factor. The base varies with building type, design category, an OOA room, fire sprinklers and whether the owner could claim GST credits. The base prices here are the NDIA's official 2025-26 tables (version 1.0, valid from 1 July 2025) lifted by the 4.6 per cent CPI uplift reported for 2026-27 (our arithmetic), which matches the 2026-27 apartment prices other sites publish. Confirm any dwelling in the NDIA price calculator.

For a three-resident house with no OOA room or sprinklers, the 2025-26 base per resident is $45,460 for Improved Liveability, $46,731 for Fully Accessible, $50,505 for Robust and $55,148 for High Physical Support. With the uplift, High Physical Support is $57,685 a resident, or $173,055 a year for the house at a location factor of 1.00. Fire sprinklers lift the base about 5 per cent, and the table for owners who paid GST they could not claim is about 7 per cent higher.

Location factors follow land cost. House factors run from 0.84 at Ipswich to 1.92 in inner Sydney, while apartment factors barely move (our reading of the NDIA's Appendix E).

Treat these as ceilings. The provider can claim only the lesser of the dwelling's enrolled price and the SDA amount in each participant's plan, and payment runs only while the participant lives there. After a death, notice or removal for risk there is a vacancy allowance of up to 60 days (two or three residents) or 90 days (four or five). The scheme-wide average SDA payment was $33,100 per participant in 2025. The participant also pays a capped rent contribution. At location factor 1.00 the house's $173,055 is about 14 per cent of its $1,233,172 benchmark build cost (our arithmetic), gross, before land, GST, rates, insurance, maintenance and management.

What finished SDA homes are listed and valued at

These are asking prices from SDA sales agents on 22 October 2026, not NDIA data, and sizes are floor then land. The pages show no listing IDs, dates or rental income (Not disclosed) and the brochures sit behind forms, so confirm each one is still live. Figures are the agent's, indicative market data and not Ventas offers. The last row is a completed sale.

Finished houses outside the inner suburbs ask $820,000 to $1.27 million, below the NDIA's benchmark for the build alone. That suggests real builds come in under the benchmark or sellers are discounting (our reading). Daylesford's five villas ask $740,000 each and Cosgrove's two $700,000 each (our arithmetic).

Verified sales are scarce. Colliers sold St Albans after an expressions of interest campaign that closed in June and drew six offers (Real Estate Source, 9 September 2026). The lease to a provider runs to 2039 with options to 2049 and the tenant pays outgoings. Independent valuations are the other evidence. The Australian Unity SDA Fund's book values at 30 June 2026 run from $1,275,000 for two villas at Scarness QLD to $11,370,000 for ten apartments at Southport QLD. In the June quarter it cut three Melbourne apartment clusters by 17 per cent, citing a change of operator, a softer apartment market and limited comparable sales. Its one-year growth return was minus 5.03 per cent.

Approvals, supply and vacancy risk

There are four gates. The provider must be registered for SDA with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. An accredited assessor certifies the design against the SDA Design Standard before construction and the finished dwelling afterwards. The provider then applies to the NDIA to enrol the dwelling, and no SDA is paid before enrolment. Boda allows 28 days for enrolment and 18 to 28 months end to end in Perth. A new build needs a first occupancy certificate dated 1 April 2016 or later, no more than five residents and compliance with density limits where several dwellings share a lot. After 20 years it converts to Existing Stock, which has its own lower prices.

Then the market. At 31 December 2025 the NDIA counted 13,297 enrolled SDA dwellings, up 24 per cent in a year, with about 28,400 resident places. It counted 25,502 participants with an SDA need: 15,925 in SDA and 9,577 eligible but not yet using it. The NDIA says supply is running ahead of identified need in areas including Melbourne West, Adelaide North, Ipswich, Adelaide South and Logan-Beaudesert, generally with lower land costs. High Physical Support was 75 per cent of new enrolments, and the NDIA warns that three-resident houses are the most common participant decision while new supply is concentrated in smaller dwellings. The Australian Unity fund shows the vacancy risk: portfolio occupancy of 86 per cent (homes past their first 12 months, head-leased homes counted as full), while single sites sit far lower, such as Warrnambool VIC at 17 per cent and one Winter Valley VIC house at 0 per cent.

Rules and prices are under review. The NDIA's three-year pricing workplan will review SDA and supported independent living pricing, KPMG is reviewing the SDA Design Standard, and the Government announced NDIS reforms in April 2026 (NDIA SDA Report 2026). The NDIA also calls advertising that promises guaranteed returns, guaranteed occupancy or government-backed security misleading, and says ASIC has acted against investment schemes. A dwelling that only works at today's price table, full occupancy and a seller's yield is not a fundable one.

How an SDA build is funded

Lenders treat SDA as specialised security, not standard housing. Income comes from one funder under a price table that is under review, a dwelling earns only while a participant lives in it, there are few comparable sales, and the valuer's figure, not your build cost or an advertised yield, sets the loan. Switchboard Finance's August 2026 guide says major banks lend selectively at the strongest end, non-banks carry most of the market and private lenders fund stages with no income, such as construction. The Australian Unity fund, a large holder, runs 45 per cent gearing against a 50 per cent covenant on an ANZ facility. Ventas is a broker, not a lender, so we do not quote rates, and some lenders will say no.

The usual structure is a construction facility, then a refinance. Across development lending non-banks commonly fund 65 to 75 per cent of cost and private lenders up to 80 per cent at a price. For SDA, Switchboard's indicative bands are 65 to 80 per cent of cost and 65 to 70 per cent of end value in construction, then up to about 80 per cent of value on a completed, enrolled dwelling, less on thinly traded security.

Illustrative only, subject to lender assessment. One three-resident High Physical Support house, bought as land and built under a fixed-price contract:

And how it is typically funded across lender types:

Equity here is 35 per cent of cost. If the finished house values at $1.5 million, a term loan at 70 per cent of value is $1.05 million, about $94,000 less than the construction facility, so you would need to find that at refinance (our arithmetic). A thin equity position can sometimes be topped up with a second mortgage over other property or mezzanine finance, at a higher cost.

What makes an SDA deal fundable:

• Operator. A registered SDA provider, ideally on a signed head lease the lender can assess.
• Demand. Eligible participants in that region for that design category and size.
• Approvals. Development approval and a design-stage assessor certificate before the build.
• Cost. A fixed-price contract from an SDA-experienced builder that the valuation supports.
• Equity and structure. Cash or property equity and a company or trust borrower.

Private lending is typically business purpose and not consumer regulated, but loans to individuals buying SDA as an investment can fall under the National Credit Code. Ventas deals with business-purpose development. To get a number, send the site and approval status, design category, building type, the fixed-price quote, the assessor's certificate, the operator and head lease terms, and your equity. Start at development finance, see construction finance, and compare co-living development cost and townhouse development cost. This is cost and funding information, not investment advice. Finance is subject to lender assessment and approval.

This is general information only and not financial, credit, or tax advice. Figures are indicative market data from the sources listed, not Ventas offers, and move with the market. Consider your own circumstances and speak to a professional. All finance is subject to lender assessment and approval.

This article is general information only and not financial, credit, or tax advice. Ventas Asset Lending is a finance broker, not a lender. Approvals are subject to lender assessment. Consider your own circumstances and speak to a qualified professional, including your accountant for any tax questions.