Housing deficit problematic as 57% of 10.6 million listed structures used for residential purpose
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in its report on the recently conducted 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) has said 57 percent of the 10.6 million listed structures in the country are used for residential purposes only.
Per the report, some 40.4 percent of the listed structures are used for non-residential purposes [for business operations for instance] with the remaining 2.6 percent used for both residential and other uses.
The GSS in the report notes that of the total listed structures, 80.2 percent are fully completed with 12.1 percent at different stages of completion and the remaining 7.7 percent with no form of roofing.
With regards to the type of structure listed, the GSS once again notes in its 2021 PHC report that some 78.7 percent of the listed structures are conventional structures [block buildings] whereas the remaining 20.3 percent of the structures are metal containers, wooden structures or kiosks.
With fifty-seven percent of the 10.6 million listed structures being used for residential purposes, this imply that a little over six million structures can be classified as being homes to Ghanaians either being a kiosk, wooden structure, a metallic container or a conventional building.
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With a population of 30.8 million as indicated by the 2021 PHC report, the six million residential homes exposes and entrenches the huge and ever widening housing deficit in the country.
It is widely know that Ghana’s housing deficit gap stands at 2 million houses, but with an average household size of 3.6 percent in 2021 [against the 5.1 in 2000] as indicated in the GSS 2021 PHC report, Ghana’s housing deficit has now increased to 2.5 million houses.
Hence the need for government to speed up and complete its affordable housing projects such as the Saglemi Housing project as well as build new ones to be able to bridge the ever-widening housing deficit gap.
Government should also see to the materialisation the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between it and the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA) for the construction of 20,000 housing units every year for the next 2 decades to supplement its efforts towards reducing the housing deficit.
Government should also ensure the effective operationalisation of the Housing Mortgage Fund (NHMF) which has seen the construction of a model 204 housing units at Tema Community 22 under the National Mortgage and Affordable Housing Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Schemes for some Ghanaians.
