Government to seed National Rental Assistance Scheme with GH¢100 million

In partnership with the private sector, the government says it “will commence the establishment of a National Rental Assistance Scheme (NRAS) with a seed of GH¢100 million”.

The scheme, according to Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, “will crowd-in additional investment from the private sector, to provide low-interest loans to eligible Ghanaians to enable them pay rent advance”.

The Majority Leader made the announcement when he presented the 2021 budget and economic statement to Parliament on Friday, 12 March.

In August 2020, the government of President Nana Akufo-Addo said it intended to advance loans to Ghanaians informal employment, to help them pay their rent.

Speaking at the 2020 manifesto launch of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Saturday, 22 August 2020, Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia said: “It is clear that there are a lot of youth who, when they finish school, just trying to rent accommodation is a big problem”.

He noted that such people find it hard to rent because of the huge demand for two-year rent advance by landlords.

“But someone who is just finishing school and starting a job doesn’t have those savings to pay all these huge demands for rent allowance”, he observed.

Meanwhile, he noted, “the landlords, on the other hand, have gotten used to asking for two-year rent advance even though the law says six months and insist on it because they are saying that they don’t know if the tenant will run away or not, so, they want to collect it upfront”.