How the Right Provider Turned a Vacant SDA Home Around
“Are you a licensed real estate agent?”
It’s a question we hope every investor will be asking their specialist disability housing provider after revelations that thousands of purpose-built homes across Australia have been sitting vacant.
Sydney’s Mr Patel knows only too well how easy it is for investors to find themselves with a vacant property, mounting costs and no immediate solution, despite high demand for disability housing.
The SDA home Mr Patel built near Mandurah sat empty for three months before he switched providers, turning to GR8’s greater capabilities and compliance guarantees as both a licensed real estate agent and a specialist disability housing provider.
“With interest on my loan running at 9.44 per cent, my money was just draining away,” Mr Patel said.
“I know people whose homes have been sitting empty for more than a year. You go into it thinking you’re helping people while also making a return as an investor, but the reality can be very different.”
Mr Patel isn’t alone. Shocking revelations about the SDA sector on the east coast aired on ABC’s Four Corners in August 2025, sparking national concern.
And WA isn’t immune.
GR8 Managing Director Perry Kleppe says one of the biggest red flags is the number of SDA providers in WA who are not licensed real estate agents.
“The Four Corners investigation is a wake-up call for WA,” he says.
“In WA, managing leases, trust accounts and bonds is a regulated responsibility, yet many SDA operators are not legally authorised to perform these functions, leaving both investors and NDIS participants exposed.
“If investors don’t ask the tough questions – who holds the licence, where are the funds kept and how is compliance guaranteed – they’re at risk of losing both their investment and the trust of the NDIS participants they are trying to help.
“And unless the housing provider is also a registered real estate agent, they simply can’t give the investor access to a full range of leasing pathways.”
At GR8, we’ve been adding our voice to the campaign for change, calling for mandatory licensing of SDA providers as real estate agents, stronger requirements for trust account management and greater transparency from the NDIS to reduce delays and disputes.
For Mr Patel, switching to GR8 opened up new leasing pathways and his investment was soon back on track. Within weeks he had a lease signed with a Supported Independent Living (SIL) organisation and residents moving in soon after.
It’s a strategy that has worked for many of our clients, turning their investment around by leasing to a SIL organisation.
“By repositioning properties for SIL providers or families seeking shared housing with staff support, investors can turn around vacancies and create much-needed housing for people with disability, even without SDA funding streams,” Perry says.
If you have an underutilised disability housing property, speak with our team to explore compliant, proven leasing alternatives.
Call GR8 on (08) 9358 3400 to learn how we help investors reduce vacancy risk while delivering quality housing outcomes for people with disability.
