35% of Ghanaian populace unlikely to own a home – Works & Housing Minister

The Works and Housing Minister, Francis Asenso-Boakye, has estimated that some 35 percent of the Ghanaian populace are unlikely to get a chance to own their homes even with government support.

According to him, some 60 percent of the populace will require government support in order to own their own home.

Making the assertion at the launch of the maiden edition of Glitz Africa’s Home Ownership Series on April 15, the Works and Housing Minister explained this is a result of the complex challenges associated with home ownership in Ghana.

“The growing housing market that is expected to supply homes for Ghanaians is saddled with a lot of challenges that eventually make home ownership very complex and an expensive venture for most of our citizens. The causes of these complexities are not far-fetched and can be attributed to our unpreparedness over the last few decades to weed the challenges that urbanization and population growth present to us,” the minister said.

“Currently, it is estimated that 60 percent of Ghanaians will need some form of government assistance to support them to get access to housing while 35 percent will not be able to access housing even with government support,” he explained.

To address this, the Asenso-Boakye said government will soon establish a National Housing Authority that will be mandated to take charge of the supply side of the country's housing market.

The Authority, according to him will also be responsible for the regulatory, acquisition, development, management, planning and standardization of affordable housing units across the country.

Meanwhile, Ghana’s housing deficit stands at some 2 million units and has been projected to hit peak numbers in the coming years.

Currently, the demand for housing units stands at about 70,000 units annually.