I'II abolish 'killer and poverty making' rent law - Sylvester Mensah

A former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Sylvester Mensah, has promised to abolish the rent law should he assume the role as president of Ghana.

The Fellow of the Institute of Business Consulting-UK, who served on a number of public and private boards in Ghana told Kwame Tutu, in an interview on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm that, he will make sure that rent advance of one, two and three years is frustrated in Ghana.

According to him, he will ensure that what pertains in civilized environments-where you pay one month advance and then rent is paid on monthly basis is restored. This is a social protection issue to,’’ he added.

He lamented that the youth in Ghana are frustrated due to unemployment and economic hardship. ‘’Our youth are getting impoverished, our young graduates are leaving school entering the world of business, the world of work with frustration and we need to address that difficulty.’’

He wondered why young people have to struggle to search for money in order to rent in such bizarre circumstances.

"How do you leave school as a young graduate, start work, leave your home, trying to get a place of your own and you need to pay two years advance?" He stressed.

"Our rent laws would have to be reviewed. We need to ensure that, we discourage and frustrate our landlords from taking two to three years advance which is impoverishing homes, moving a number of homes and individuals into bankruptcy, into poverty; this is a critical issue this country must take seriously and address,’’ he added.

Meanwhile, government is putting up a new bill to regulate the housing sector.

The bill, which will be laid before Parliament soon if approved, will make tenants pay between one month to a year’s rent advance instead of the initial six-months in the existing rent law. Tenants are expected to pay one to six months per the current laws governing the renting space, ACT 1963 but Mr.

Mensah says he would totally scrap the law and adopt a monthly per policy.

According to a 2014 report by the Rent Control and Housing Studies, 75% of Ghanaians are spending at least half of their monthly income on housing alone.

However, experts say it is not advisable to spend over 30% of take-home pay on housing.

City dwellers are the most likely to fall into this trap. In the city of Accra, the average rent an accommodation seeker is likely to pay for a single room hovers around GHC 150.while a self-contained chamber-and-hall is between GHC300 and GHC1200 depending on the location of the facility.