Image Source: CJAM Group

---

Written by Nia Bowers

In communities across Australia, thousands of NDIS participants and their families face the same frustrating reality: there simply aren't enough purpose-built homes designed for people with disabilities.

The waiting lists are long, the existing stock is outdated, and the gap between what's needed and what's available grows wider every year.

It's a market failure that most property developers have either ignored or deemed too complex to address.

But at Glasshouse Residences in Beerwah on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, CJAM Group has built the solution directly into its development masterplan.

Of the 107 dwellings at Glasshouse Residences, 22 are purpose-built, NDIS-compliant two-bedroom apartments housed in a dedicated three-storey building.

These aren't retrofitted standard apartments with a ramp added as an afterthought. They are designed from the ground up to meet the requirements of NDIS participants — and they sit within an integrated residential community of townhouses and standard apartments, not in an isolated facility.

"We made a deliberate decision to include NDIS housing as part of a broader community, not separate from it," said Craig McDermott, founder of CJAM Group. "The whole point of the NDIS is inclusion. That should extend to where people live."

The national NDIS housing shortfall has been well documented.

Specialist Disability Accommodation — the housing category designed for participants with the highest support needs — represents a small but critical segment of the broader disability housing challenge. Demand consistently outstrips supply, and purpose-built stock in regional areas is particularly scarce.

Beerwah, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, is emblematic of the problem. The town's population is growing, NDIS participant numbers are rising in line with broader population trends, and yet the available housing stock designed for people with disabilities remains inadequate.

CJAM Group's approach addresses the shortage while also offering a viable investment proposition.

NDIS-compliant properties attract government-backed rental income through Specialist Disability Accommodation payments, providing investors with a unique combination of social impact and financial return. The supported rental model typically delivers above-market yields underpinned by long-term government funding.

"There's a perception that NDIS housing is complicated or niche," said McDermott. "The reality is that it's one of the most demand-certain categories in Australian property. The funding is government-backed, the tenants are long-term, and the supply gap is enormous. We're building what the market needs and what the community deserves."

The 22 NDIS apartments at Glasshouse Residences are part of a broader mixed-use development that includes 24 three-bedroom and 13 four-bedroom townhouses, plus 48 standard two-bedroom apartments across two additional buildings. The total site covers 5,531 square metres with nearly 2,000 square metres of private open space.

The development sits in a location poised for significant growth.

The $2.75 billion Sunshine Coast Rail Project, which will begin its first stage as a 19-kilometre dual-track line from Beerwah to Caloundra, is expected to attract up to 100,000 new residents to the corridor. The 2032 Brisbane Olympics will further drive infrastructure investment across the region.

For NDIS participants and their families, the arrival of purpose-built housing in a growing, well-connected community represents something that has been in short supply for too long: a home that's designed for them, in a neighbourhood that includes them.

It's a model that other developers would do well to study.