- When a Three-Bedroom House Costs GHS 1.5 Million, Who Is Accra Building For?
Accra’s housing market may be booming, but the city is increasingly building homes that ordinary Ghanaian families cannot afford, real estate developer Curtis Tetteh Djaba has warned.
In a thought-provoking article titled “The developer’s dilemma: When a three-bedroom house costs GHS 1.5 million, who is Accra building for?”, Mr Djaba argues that Ghana’s housing debate has focused heavily on rent payments and tenant affordability while paying insufficient attention to the supply-side costs that make homes expensive before they even enter the market.
“This article takes a different but equally urgent angle: the supply side, specifically, the rising cost of land and production inputs that make housing expensive before the first tenant even inquires,” he wrote.
According to him, the real problem is not only why tenants are asked to pay rent years in advance, but why the house itself now costs what he describes as “a decade of salaries”.
Mr Djaba said Accra’s rapid urbanisation, diaspora investment, local demand and population growth have created opportunities for developers and investors, but have also pushed land prices to levels that are excluding many Ghanaians from homeownership.
“At the core of Accra’s housing affordability crisis is the escalating cost of land,” he said, noting that the price of a single plot has multiplied within a few years in several parts of the capital.
He cited areas such as Kwabenya, Pokuase, Amasaman, Adenta, Oyibi, Oyarifa and parts of East Legon Hills, which were once considered relatively affordable but have now become development hotspots.
“Land in these areas now ranges from GHS 200,000 to millions. As a result, homeownership is steadily transitioning from a basic necessity into a luxury for the average Ghanaian family,” he wrote.
The developer said the pressure is being intensified by Ghana’s growing urban population, with Accra attracting thousands of people every year in search of jobs, education and business opportunities.
He referenced UN-Habitat projections that Ghana’s urban population could reach nearly 65 percent by 2030, a development he said would place further pressure on the housing market.
The country’s housing deficit, estimated at more than 1.8 million units by the Minister for Works and Housing, Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, has further deepened the affordability problem.
But Mr Djaba argued that the crisis is not only about demand. Speculation, he said, is distorting the land market.
“Investors acquire large tracts of land not for near-term development but to hold and resell at significantly higher prices in the future,” he noted.
That practice, he argued, has created artificial price surges, with undeveloped plots in some parts of Accra now selling for amounts that could previously have built a complete house.
Ghana’s land tenure system, according to the developer, also adds another layer of cost and uncertainty.
Legal disputes, multiple sales of the same parcel of land, land guards and delays in title registration force developers to spend heavily on legal checks and due diligence before construction begins.
These costs, he said, are eventually passed on to buyers.
Beyond land, developers are also facing rising prices for cement, steel, roofing sheets, tiles, electrical materials and labour. Ghana’s construction industry remains heavily dependent on imported materials, making housing costs vulnerable to inflation and exchange rate movements.
Infrastructure gaps are also pushing up prices. In many new residential areas, developers have to fund roads, drainage, electricity, boreholes and water systems because public infrastructure is either weak or unavailable.
Those costs are then built into the final price of homes.
The result is that even houses described as middle-class properties are becoming unaffordable to many working Ghanaians.
“Many young professionals and middle-income earners can no longer afford a home within the city,” Mr Djaba wrote.
As a result, more households are being pushed to the fringes of Greater Accra, increasing commuting times and placing additional pressure on transport systems.
To address the crisis, Mr Djaba called for immediate practical reforms by developers, government, financial institutions and homebuyers.
For developers, he proposed phased construction, joint land-banking partnerships, cooperative development models and alternative building technologies such as compressed earth blocks, prefabrication and recycled materials.
He argued that these could help reduce construction costs by 20 to 30 percent.
For government, he called for a functional digital land registration system or “online land shop” that would allow buyers to verify ownership, check disputes and pay stamp duties within 14 days.
He said the current failure of digital land systems continues to fuel disputes, multiple sales and costly delays.
He also proposed public infrastructure bonds for new developments, allowing the state to finance roads and drains upfront and recover the cost later through property rates.
Mr Djaba further called for tax waivers on building materials for affordable housing projects, particularly where at least 40 percent of units are priced below GHS 400,000.
Financial institutions, he said, must also introduce micro-mortgages and cooperative housing finance targeted at workers who do not qualify for traditional mortgages.
He proposed smaller loans of between GHS 50,000 and GHS 150,000 at single-digit interest rates, backed by employer salary deductions or savings group guarantees.
For homebuyers, he recommended land-buying clubs where groups of families pool resources to purchase larger parcels and subdivide them legally, reducing speculation premiums and legal costs.
But beneath the policy proposals is a deeper warning: if land prices continue to rise unchecked, Accra risks becoming a city where housing exists, but not for the people who need it most.
“As developers, we cannot wait for policies that may never come,” Mr Djaba wrote.
“We must build to stay in business, but only for those who can pay GHS 1.5 million, because land, legal fees and infrastructure leave no other choice. That is not a dilemma. That is a verdict on Accra’s future.”
His final question captures the heart of Ghana’s housing crisis: “When a three-bedroom house costs GHS 1.5 million, who is Accra building for?”
