Southern Stay Disability Services and Kyeema Support Services paving the way with disability housing

Southern Stay Disability Services are set to open a $1.6 million specialist disability home in Hamilton in August, supporting four adults with high complex support needs and a further two homes in Portland.

Chief executive officer Paul Lougheed said there was a real need for new housing options.

"We're finding there are limited vacancies in the existing housing and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is making it possible," he said.

"In Hamilton there is nothing else like it so there was an urgent need - that's why our agency has gone ahead and built the house."

He said the Portland homes, built by the families, was for people living with a mild intellectual disability that needed additional support.

Mr Lougheed said in the interim the residents lived in existing housing in Portland or with their parents.

"Sometimes the parents are getting older and the residents needs are becoming more complex or the person wants to live independently - it's going out on their own, living independently and living the life they choose," he said.

The accommodation creates about 35 jobs locally across Hamilton and Portland.

Portland-based Kyeema Support Services are also in the process of building housing for people living with a disability called My Place Portland.

Chief executive officer Julie Amor said the two homes, housing a total of five residents, would be ready for residents to move in in early-2023. The cost of the houses combined is $1.6m, including $120,000 of money fund-raised.

"Our accessible houses are being built and can be modified for high physical support if needs changed so it becomes a home-for-life," Ms Amor said.

Ms Amor said there was a need for disability housing in Portland.

"A lot of it is untapped, but we don't know how many people who require it because some of them probably still live with families who may not have considered it," she said.

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