Let technocrats run Ghana Housing Authority – GREDA

The Ghana Real Estates Developers Association (GREDA) has called on government to ensure that the proposed Ghana Housing Authority (GHA) is run by technocrats and industry players who understand the country’s housing sector.

Samuel Amegayibor, Executive Director of GREDA, said the Housing Authority could be effective when its operations were devoid of political interferences.

“I want to believe that it is time to establish this National Housing Authority and the only caution I want to give is that we have too many institutions that are run by politicians, if this housing authority is established, we should allow technocrats to fill that office, people who understand what housing is about. How to construct housing, how to finance housing and all the necessary ingredients that brings housing together should be allowed for technocrats to run. The minister can continue to head the ministry and supersede everything under housing; they should deal with policy and influence policies that drive the agenda for housing. But they should leave the day-to-day administration of how housing is supplied in this country to the technocrats,” he said.

Presently, Ghana has a housing deficit of about two million.

Issues including land litigation, high cost of construction and demand for rent advances of over a year which places financial constraints on many tenants have further compounded the issue.

In its manifesto for the 2020 elections, the incumbent administration proposed the establishment of the GHA and the National Housing and Mortgage Finance Company towards addressing the housing challenge.

The authority, it said, would be responsible for improving the legal and regulatory framework, creating land banks, providing infrastructure, and standardizing houses while the finance company would manage the Mortgage and Housing Fund set up in the 2020 budget, provide incentives to enable the private sector build community housing units and create jobs in the process across in the country.