Government working on regulator for housing sector

Government plans to set up a National Housing Authority to regulate and coordinate the supply side of the housing market, Works and Housing Minister Francis Asenso-Boakye has disclosed.

The Authority will also plan, develop and manage key developments in the country at very affordable rates aside from being the regulator for the real estate and housing sector.

“A key determinant of the quality of life of every society or country depends largely on sound and efficient markets that provide decent homes for its people.

The setting up of the NHA forms part of a concerted policy direction from the government to bridge the current institutional gap in the sector to provide mass subsidised housing in the short to medium term,” he said at the maiden Home Ownership Series organised by Glitz Africa Living and supported by First National Bank.

According to the minister, challenges confronting the local housing sector have made homeownership very complex and an expensive venture for most Ghanaians, a situation he attributed to the nation’s unpreparedness over the last few decades to the ills of urbanisation and population growth.

With the current housing deficit estimated in excess of two million units, it has been projected that over 60 percent of Ghanaians need some form of government support to access quality and decent housing.

However, even with the government subsidies, about 35 percent of Ghanaians will still not be able to access decent homes.

“Unfortunately, this is the situation we find ourselves; interventions in the past have been piecemeal resulting in the country’s struggle with the housing deficit,” Mr. Asenso-Boakye stated.

The homeownership series brought together stakeholders in the construction and real estate sector to brainstorm and proffer workable solutions to the ages-long housing conundrum facing the country.

According to the Executive Head of Home Loans, First National Bank, Kojo Addo-Kuffuor, great strides have been made in the area of improving access to affordable housing but he averred that a lot more could be done to tackle the situation.

He said his outfit was ready to partner with the government in the implementation of the National Housing and Mortgage Fund in line with its agenda of facilitating increased access to decent housing in the country.

He said: “For us, the business of housing has become more of a crusade. Bold moves have been made by government and the private sector in the delivery of affordable housing.”