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Sampson Ahi, Deputy Minister in-charge of Housing at the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing has announced that the Rent Act currently before Parliament for review will encourage investments in the construction of the rental housing sector.

He said, “Government also intends to prioritize rent-to-own schemes for low income households and starter families. As a result, the Rent Act 220 (1963) is being reviewed to encourage investments in the construction of rental housing for vulnerable households.” He said this at the inaugural meeting of the “Homes for All, a Ghana National Housing Awareness and Data collection road-show” in Accra.

The road-show is a platform that will discuss issues related to housing delivery for all and good practice strategies for management and maintenance. This is in line with the government’s commitment to help solve the housing problems facing the country. The road-show, according to Mr. Ahi will collect data of individuals, families, and their needs in terms of housing, how many rooms needed by a family or individuals, which will be given based on the income level.

This, he said will subsequently support middle and lower income earning Ghanaians to own affordable accommodations, which would go a long way to solve the current housing deficit problem facing the country. According to him, Ghana crossed the urban divide in 2010, with over 50% of the population living in the urban areas, adding the housing deficit is estimated to be in excess of 1.7 million units whilst the annual housing delivery is estimated to be between 45,000 to 50,000 units.

The Deputy Minister continued that the objective of the national housing policy that was launched in March is to create an enabling environment with the state playing a facilitating role and encourage private sector developers, co-operative groups and other actors to embark on affordable housing delivery for all.

He said it was about time his ministry to consolidate all research works to collect vital information gearing towards a strategic framework to deliver the objectives of the national housing policy. Helen Ankrah, Director for the Centre of Excellence for Housing Studies (CABE) KNUST, on her part, classified the objectives of the campaign into three including fact-finding for a pilot project to build 1,000 affordable homes in each of the 10 regions over a period of two to five years.

The other two categories include; the creation of awareness to generate members for Ghana Institute of Housing (GIH) as part of local chartered status requirement to support policy and management strategies good practice guide and to create awareness of the perceptions of housing, homes and quality of life amongst key stakeholders.

She explained that the program would analyze those who need basic but decent and affordable homes to be able to build, allocate, manage relationships and maintain structures in compliant with policy, law and good practice strategies, which would subsequently give equal and fair access.

Hinting on the expectations of the campaign, she noted that the program would be executed in collaboration with landlords, chiefs, family heads, professionals and Lands Commission to make sense of land use management and to compile the need assessments of individuals between the ages of 14-60 years.

Continuing, Helen Ankrah observed that the development planning committee constituted to ensure that the program has been undertaken is working assiduously. The Registrar for the College of Arts and Built Environment at KNUST who was also the Chairman for the occasion, Owusu Ansah Debrah, in his remarks urged the committee members to undertake their new roles with dedication and tactfulness.