Nest

In May 2018, Northcott Innovation (NI) launched Nest to help people with disability find suitable housing that matches their needs and preferences. It was created after the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and the devolution of some state-based disability housing waitlists which used to be the way people with disability found housing. Whilst this system was far from ideal; it was a system. We heard from many people with disability (and their carers) that they felt lost trying to navigate the ‘new world’ to find suitable housing.

Filling a vacancy in the disability housing market

The goal of Nest (gonest.com.au) is to create a fair and efficient marketplace for disability housing. For people with disability and disability housing providers, the equivalent of realestate.com.au didn’t exist before Nest. This meant finding a place to live, or filling a vacancy was a frustrating, timely, and costly process.

NI saw the opportunity to improve outcomes for all parties by building an independent matching website, free for both people with disability and suppliers of disability housing.

Smartphone with the Nest website displayed

Search. Match. Go make your nest.

Nest is a web-based national platform helping people with disability get matched to disability housing vacancies. Like most real estate sites, Nest functionality for users includes:

  • Search, filter and apply for properties by preferences such as accommodation type and features, location, proximity to shops, transport, and who they want to live with.
  • Create a list of favourite properties
  • Get notified when a matched property becomes vacant
  • Carers/Support Coordinators can search on behalf of people with disability and save many clients under one contact profile
  • Responsive website, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1

For disability housing providers, having direct access to well-suited applicants, and a simple place to professionally showcase and manage vacancies will save hours of fruitless admin time.

Laptop with the Nest website displayed

Want to meet face-to-face?

The Nest platform is great tool anyone can use with access to the internet. However, we also know people with disability and providers are often keen to meet face-to-face, which is why we hold Match Up events throughout Australia.

Check out our upcoming list of Match Up events and register for the one closest to you!