Frequently Asked Questions

Horizon Property Alliance is a one-stop-shop to help investors achieve sustainable financial growth through innovative property solutions - creating lucrative investment opportunities while making a real difference in people's lives.

To achieve this, Horizon Property Alliance work closely with Investors, Builders, Developers, NDIS Providers, Support Coordinators, and Participants, and more, to deliver SDA compliant homes to assist Providers in helping their Participants live with independence, choice, and control.

SDA is "Specialist Disability Accommodation”- residences designed under NDIS guidelines for people with extreme functional impairment and/or very high support needs who require specialist housing solutions. 

SIL is “Supported Independent Living” – and refers to daily personalised supports required by a participant. SIL residences provide essential housing for individuals who require daily living support. These properties are designed to enhance independence while ensuring high-quality 24/7 support for participants, often living in a shared home care situation.

The NDIS is the National Disability Insurance Scheme - part of the NDIA (National Disability Insurance Agency). It provides funding to eligible people with disability to gain more time with family and friends, greater independence, access to new skills, jobs, or volunteering in their community, and an improved quality of life. 

The NDIS also connects anyone with disability to services in their community.

www.ndis.gov.au

Funding for Specialist Disability Accommodation provides an investor with an above-average rental income for providing SDA housing. If a disabled person is assessed as requiring Specialist Disability Accommodation, additional funding will be included in their NDIS plan to cover any disability-related housing costs.

Supported Independent Living (SIL) is the support provided for daily tasks to live independently. 

Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) is for people with disability who have severe functional impairment or highly complex support needs, that require specialist housing alternatives.

NO! The SDA funding under the NDIS is a legislated commitment of Australia's Commonwealth, State, and Territory governments, set out in the NDIS SDA Rules (2-18) under the NDIS Act 2013. This legislation provides the foundation for the governments long-term commitment to SDA funding under the NDIS. 

Above and beyond the legislative commitment, SDA funding enables eligible participants to achieve better outcomes while representing value for money for the NDIS, saving the government and taxpayers a lot of money otherwise spent on accommodating the applicants themselves.

A person ceases to be a participant in the NDIS when the person enters a residential care service on a permanent basis after the person turns 65 years of age.

The SDA policy is an initiative requiring $5Bn to build housing. The government cannot achieve this alone and thus, launched the $700M a year SDA Scheme to create an investor and user-driven market. 

The package of support includes annual funding to pay for the cost of housing, where the participant has a separate amount in their package to pay for their attendant care support needs to live independently.

We partner with Horizon SDA Care - a registered NDIS Care provider – to find NDIS participants for the properties. However, each investor is free to engage whichever Housing Provider they wish in order to procure participants for the home.

Once engaged, the registered NDIS Care provider will be the specialist property management company that works with NDIS Service Providers in assisting their clients to apply for and be placed in suitable Specialist Disability Accommodation. 

This process starts as soon as the finance has been approved and prior to commencement of build, with the intention of having the property occupied as soon as possible after the property is completed.

All SDA providers must be registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.

An SDA provider may or may not own the dwelling and may or may not include:

• Private landlords

• Family members of people with disability

• Organisations (not-for-profit or for-profit)

An SDA provider will receive funding from the NDIA and can also charge controlled rent directly from each resident. 

The NDIA payment is a contribution to the cost of capital and a contribution to the associated business activities and costs relevant to the delivery of SDA: for example, property maintenance and vacancy procedures.

No. The land and location must meet SDA requirements. SDA funding is running nationally, and SDA Homes can be built Australia wide. However, the location needs to be close to amenities such as health care, employment hubs and transport, and the land must have no more than a 7-degree slope to the road to be approved.

Compliance is checked at several stages throughout the process.

1. At the plan stage. Before committing to the land and build contracts, the package goes in for initial certification with independent SDA certifiers. This then goes into local council for Building approval.

2. At the frame stage. The independent SDA certifier will conduct site visits to ensure that the construction matches the approved plan. 

3. At completion. Final certification will happen when the home is at Practical Completion. This process ensures that the investor will be able to receive SDA funding. 

Without proper SDA certification the house will not be able to be enrolled with the NDIS, and therefore not have NDIS/SDA tenants and the high returns from that.

It used to be around 6 months. But since 2021, 9 to 12 months are now the standard for construction. Allowing for council delays, supply chain issues, construction worker shortages, the Christmas period and weather delays, etc, a 14 to 16 month project timeframe is to be expected.

Yes, you can, but if borrowing only as a 'single part contract’. This would normally mean you would need to purchase the property in cash from your SMSF. Only single contract purchases can be purchased in a SMSF, not a 2-part contract purchase.

Single-part contracts offer simplicity, transparency, and ease of engagement for investors, providing a clear pathway to enter the property market. 

We recommend SMSF investors have at least 33% of the House & Land contract price, plus additional costs such as stamp duty and holding costs, etc.  This would amount to over $250,000 as an SMSF balance minimum, ideally at least $350,000. 

Please consult your accountant for further advice, as we are not financial advisors.

A single-part contract in property investment streamlines the process with a direct agreement between the investor and the property provider. This eliminates the need for intermediary contracts, providing a transparent structure for building property in your SMSF. Enjoy a clear breakdown of all construction costs, ensuring full visibility and eliminating hidden fees. 

A Family Trust is worth considering for holding this type of investment due to its tax benefits, but we suggest you speak to your Accountant or Financial Advisor for advice. We can refer you to a planner, accountant or broker to assist.

For general tenancy (non SDA tenants) yes. 

However, in order to have SDA participants in the property, and therefore receive the higher return, an SDA home must be managed by a registered SDA service provider under the NDIS.

There are very strict practices that have to be adhered to when working with people in the disability sector and only an authorised SDA provider can manage your property.

With an NDIS property it is slightly different to a typical residence. An SDA Provider takes out a Head Lease with the investor. This enables the SDA Provider to sublet the property to suitable SDA Participants (tenants) on behalf of the investor.

Although Queensland has yet to incorporate specific legislation surrounding SDA in regards to Bond. With multiple tenants, at present, all are handled under a rooming accommodations agreement where they are charged separately per room, and not as part of a single lease arrangement.

The bond fee is typically the equivalent of four weeks rent for each participant per room (which is the participant contribution amount only - the NDIS payment is not factored for bond calculation).

NDIS/SDA property payments are paid differently to that of a non NDIS property. Your payments will be paid to you from SDAMA at the end of each calendar month. 

Each Tenants payment is made up of 3 parts;

1. Reasonable rent contribution: (25% of base disability supplement) paid fortnightly by the participant (tenant);

2. 100% Commonwealth Rent Assistance paid fortnightly by the participant (tenant);

3. NDIS SDA Payment (Refer to the NDIS SDA Schedule: paid quarterly in arrears).

A complete furniture package is not usually required, as most Tenants would have their own furniture for their bedrooms. However, we recommend furnishing the shared spaces. 

Each home has different requirements, but we believe an allowance of $5,000 - $10,000 for items like a fridge, washing machine, table and chairs and lounge is appropriate.

Similar to a typical rental property, it is generally understood that Tenants will look after their own maintenance of the home, but it is suggested that the Landlord engage a contractor to look after lawn mowing and basic garden maintenance. 

The Landlord is responsible for all other normal maintenance just like a typical investment property. 

The Tenants are responsible for damage caused to the property.

The Tenants are responsible, but it is advised that the Landlord connects utilities such as NBN and electricity in their own name and bill the ongoing costs back to the Tenant’s, as it will be hard to get connections made to the home with 2 or 3 separate Tenants.

There are many factors at play when looking for and securing an NDIS-SDA-approved tenant. 

Location, suitability of the style of property, demand for that style of home with a suitable tenant, and Government "red tape" are just some of the factors involved. 

The process of looking for a Tenant starts before the build has even started. We work closely with Service Providers, most of which have Participants on file, but there can be many factors that can delay this process also, as they may not yet have SDA funding approval on their Care Plans, or they may need to move out of current accommodation which may take time to transition across. 

There are still some challenges with the current NDIS structure and speed of delivery, but we are doing our best to push as hard as we can to get a tenant in every one of our homes

 Initial leases will be for 12 - 24 months where possible, but once locked in, most NDIS participants will stay as long as they can. In most disabled SDA residents want to "stay for life" when they are in appropriate accommodation.

Once your property has been enrolled and tenanted initially, the NDIS has allowances for vacancy payments (NDIS SDA portion only). The amounts covered are for up to 60 days for properties with 2 or 3 participant rooms, and for up to 90 days for properties with 4 or 5 participant rooms.

Yes, BUT... If you are considering renovating an existing property, you need to consider the following points:

• The property needs to have been issued a certificate of occupancy on or after April 1st, 2016. 

• The refurbishment must meet the minimum requirements for the selected Design Category and

• The cost to refurbish or renovate the home must meet the minimum requirements in the NDIS’ Appendix F— Minimum Refurbishment Costs for New Builds

• The required minimum costs to refurbish are high, generally making this option not financially viable.

Any government funding is attached to the NDIS participant, and not the property itself. Investors should be aware that investment schemes, generally, are not government-backed and are run independently from the government.

Misinformation suggesting that SDA investment is easy, low risk and offers high returns, is an overarching issue in the industry.

Whilst the potential is there for returns well above average, investors must examine their motivation and commitment, they must also understand the process of sourcing and placing suitable NDIS participants can sometime be a long drawn out one.

Generally, we advise that our investors be in a financial position to carry the costs of owning the property for at least 12 months, to avoid financial difficulties should it take longer than expected to find a suitable NDIS participant with approved SDA funding in place.