Government sets ambitious housing agenda

Government is embarking through its National Housing and Mortgage Finance Initiative (NHMFI) on an aggressive drive to bridge the yawning housing gap and increase public access to decent, affordable and safe accommodation.

To achieve this, the managers of the initiative are currently assessing the level of demand across the country, at the regional, municipal and district levels.

“Our target is to do about 100,000 units within a four-year period, across the regions, municipalities, metropolitan areas, and districts. This will deliver housing units in a consistent manner that will reduce the deficit gradually,” Dela Zumanu, Acting Coordinator of the National Housing and Mortgage Fund, told Business24 in an exclusive interview.

“We have got about 10 to 15 private entities seeking to partner with government to deliver affordable housing units. What government has done these two years is to create the enabling environment for the private sector to thrive in this sector,” he indicated.

Ghana is currently facing a housing conundrum: the high costs of land, capital and raw materials have priced out the average Ghanaian from accessing affordable accommodation even as numerous upscale apartments spring up across the capital city. The housing deficit is said to exceed 2 million units currently.

The NHMFI is a structured tool to stimulate both the demand and supply sides of the market by creating the opportunity for players in both spaces to engage and create pipelines of housing supply and provide effective demand to off-take the units.

Louisa Afriyie Boateng, Business Operations Manager of Earlbeam Realty, said a holistic approach to solving the nation’s housing problem is needed.

“The NHMF initiative that’s been rolled out to support mortgages is just one of many different schemes that could be birthed from looking at this issue from a holistic point of view,” she said in an interview.

The Executive Director of the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA), Samuel Amegayibor, also applauded the initiative but wants it to be fine-tuned to attract private developers.

He said: “Government hasn’t taken any steps on the concerns of developers. They expect the developer to build specified units of houses so they come and write the mortgages for people who can afford. But how the developer can build that house to meet the expected price is where the problem is.”