Low cost houses to be sold to sitting tenants

Accra, Nov. 15, GNA - The Government would sell all low cost houses built under the 1972 Low Cost Housing Programme to sitting tenants, Mr Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, Minister of the renamed Ministry of Water Resource, Works and Housing, said in Accra on Tuesday. He said consultants were working out modalities and technicalities for the sale of the units and the Ministry had held discussions with financial institutions on how to assist prospective buyers with credit and the response had been encouraging.

Addressing the weekly Meet-the-Press series, Mr Owusu-Agyemang said the estimated prices ranged from about 30 million cedis for one bedroom to 75 million cedis for three-bedroom units. He said as a Government that believed in property ownership, the intention was not only to promote home ownership among the people but also to raise additional capital to plough back into the National Affordable Housing Programme.

Mr Owusu-Agyemang said the Ministry was able to reduce the cost of consultancy in the valuation and sale of these low cost houses from more than 16 billion cedis to nothing when the administration of the Public Works Department (PWD) undertook the exercise.