Following a direct member briefing on 4 August 2020, UDIA National has provided a submission to the Regulatory Impact Statement Consultation on the proposal to include minimum accessibility standards for housing in the National Construction Code (NCC).
UDIA supports the Australian government in the driving purpose of the Consultation RIS to improve the availability of improved accessibility homes. The RIS report, including material from earlier work, is an important contribution of critical material to the discussion.
In providing the following submission, UDIA draws on the extensive experience of its members across Australia in the development and construction of residential dwellings, understanding of market dynamics and economic feasibilities for housing delivery as well as independent research and expert professional opinion.
UDIA supports the Building Ministers Forum goal of increasing the choice of housing options for people with a disability and/or ageing in place. However, we believe the costs of a mandatory and/or sector-wide approach to achieving this goal significantly outweigh the benefits under the central estimates for all of the Options tested (1 to 5), and would not be commensurate with the level of demand for accessible housing.