Thirty-five percent (35%) of the Ghanaian populace will be unable to own a home even with support from the government.
This is according to the Minister for Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye.
Speaking at the launch of the maiden edition of Glitz Africa’s Home Ownership Series held on Thursday, April 15, the Minister further noted that about 60 percent of Ghanaians will however, be able to own a home if given the needed support by government.
“The growing housing market that is expected to supply homes for Ghanaians is saddled with a lot of challenges that eventually make home ownership very complex and an expensive venture for most of our citizens. The causes of these complexities are not far-fetched and can be attributed to our unpreparedness over the last few decades to weed the challenges that urbanization and population growth present to us,” Mr Asenso-Boakye stated.
“Currently, it is estimated that 60 percent of Ghanaians will need some form of government assistance to support them to get access to housing while 35 percent will not be able to access housing even with government support,” he added.
With a demand and supply of housing units pegged at 70,000 units and 40,000 units respectively, Ghana’s housing deficit exceeds 2 million houses.
Successive governments in their bid to address the menace have undertaken several housing projects such as the Saglemi Housing projects among others, to enable Ghanaians afford to rent or own a home, but the problem still persists as successive governments have failed in their attempts to do so.
Recent among the several housing projects embarked on to address the challenge is the setting up of the National Housing and Mortgage Fund (NHMF) to pilot two schemes namely; the National Housing Mortgage and Affordable Housing Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) (Rent-to-own) Schemes.
The two schemes developed by government seeks to resolve home ownership challenges faced by Ghanaians as well as significantly reduce the nation’s housing deficit in the long term.
Under the National Mortgage Scheme (NMS), mortgages are being underwritten at rates of 10 -12 per cent by the participating banks namely, GCB Bank Limited, Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited and Republic Bank Ghana Limited.
The two schemes seek to reduce mortgage rates by over 60 per cent, compared to the average market rate of 28 per cent. The Affordable Housing REITs is promoting the rent-to-own scheme with only monthly rent payments and after a period, the occupant has the option to own it.
The rent-to-own scheme will also eliminate the burdened two (2)-year rent advance system and is designed to give low income workers the opportunity to rent and eventually own homes.
Aside that, the government has also set up the National Housing Authority which is expected to lead the supply side of the housing market, regulating the housing industry by planning, developing and managing housing development in the country, particularly affordable housing.
