Govt eager to address problems in housing industry

Accra, May 4, GNA - Mrs. Cecilia Abena Dapaah, Deputy Minister, Water Resources, Works and Housing on Friday reaffirmed government's support to tackle the limitations in the estate development industry.

" I can assure you that all these matters are receiving the highest attention and be addressed holistically within the National Shelter Policy".

Mrs. Dapaah, who was speaking at a seminar organized by the Ghana Institute of Planners (GIP) said the Ministry was aware of the numerous problems encountered through weaknesses of the statutory planning and enforcement framework and was working hard to tackle both internal and external constraints.

Speaking under the theme: 'Performance of the Private Real Estate Sector in Housing delivery in Ghana', She noted that there were too many complaints of developers failing to meet their commitments to homebuyers in accordance with their contractual obligations.

" The quality of work on some of these houses also leaves much to be desired and gradually some of these well intended estate are turning into slums, thereby eroding the capital values of the properties" she added.

She said governments' effort at providing houses through the on-going affordable housing programme was to serve as a catalyst bearing in mind that the bulk of supply would come from the private sector. Mrs Dapaah noted that the ministry would continue to dialogue with Ghana Real Estate Developers Association to facilitate access to housing finance.

She expressed the hope that the collaboration between the GIP and other stakeholders in the building industry would become a permanent feature to finding solutions to some pressing national problems in the building environment.

Profesor Ernest Ayitey, Director Institute of Statistical and Social Research who chaired the seminar called on estate developers to shift focus from building for the high-income earners to the low and middle class.

He said the state must play an active role to remove the skewdness by building affordable houses for all.

Professor Ayitey called for a closer collaboration between the private sector and developers to carry out feasibility studies in a manner that would make housing accessible and attractive. Mr Frank Tackie, President of GIP, who presented a background paper noted that housing in Ghana faces several key challenges such as low-rate of supply of materials, poor quality of available stocks, deficiencies inland infrastructure and manpower. Others include ineffective regulatory support and an infant policy environment with the private sector dominating housing delivery. He said the seminar sought to establish partnership between professionals of the sector and find a road map towards ensuring technical and cost efficiency in housing delivery. 4 May 07