New ambitious housing scheme takes off next month

A pilot phase of a National Mortgage and Housing Finance Scheme (NMHFS) would start in August this year to pave way for a scale up in the 2019 budget to affirm a stronger social contract between the citizens and the government.

The scheme would provide cheaper local currency mortgages and residential housing finance across the country, as well as promote social equity and stimulate the economy.

The government will also embark on an accelerated affordable housing scheme through the development of 600 acres of serviced plots near Dawa (63 kilometres from Accra) in the Greater Accra Region, in partnership with real estate developers on a pilot basis and replicate similar schemes in all regions.

This project is strategically located to fit into government’s plan to develop new settlements along the new road and rail transport corridors to facilitate easy access into major cities.

Finance and Economic Planning Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, who announced this in the parliament yesterday during the mid-year budget review, said government would scale up this initiative in the 2019 budget to assert a stronger social contract between the citizens and government in terms of house ownership, building new communities across the county, stimulating the economy, and further deepening the financial market.

According to him, government would also accelerate its programme to set up a National Housing and Mortgage Fund to provide construction and mortgage financing for the project.

Ghana Housing Authority

Ofori-Atta explained that government would initiate the legislative processes towards the establishment of the Ghana Housing Authority to spearhead implementation of the National Housing Policy, especially with respect to affordable housing.

The authority will also serve as the regulatory body for the housing industry to ensure conformity with housing standards.

National mortgage and housing finance scheme

He said government set up a management board to work with some banks and pension fund managers to understand the constraints of effective delivery of mortgages with the view to supporting private real estate developers with long-term loans, to make the cost of housing delivery relatively cheaper.

“The board was also tasked to identify why various housing initiatives, including affordable and social housing projects, have failed to achieve scale and sustainability and to address them in the new scheme.

“We observed that to effectively support housing delivery, we must address both the demand and supply side of the housing market and develop a scheme that creates an effective ecosystem for home buyers, developers and financial institutions.



“To make the scheme more sustainable, government plans to learn from the Singaporean housing market experience.

“In this regard, our focus will be to develop the local currency and housing finance market by establishing a National Housing and Mortgage Fund that will work with banks to provide cheaper local currency mortgages and construction finance,” he said.

Ofori-Atta said the scheme would allow Ghanaian banks to partner with various stakeholders interested in housing delivery to build communities while at the same time ensuring that there is effective demand for these houses.

Rent-a-bed scheme for female porters

According to him, in the last quarter of the year, government would roll out a rent-a-bed scheme for the socially marginalised manual workers, mostly female porters, in urban centres.

“The proposed intervention is to provide them with hostel facilities close to where they work.

“This secure environment will also give them the peace of mind to plan and work towards moving up the economic ladder,” he added.

2 Million housing deficit

The real estate sector has experienced overall growth, but access to affordable housing remains a challenge to many of our citizens.

The country currently has a housing deficit, with some estimates putting it in excess of two million units.

Industry stakeholders have identified access to unencumbered land, infrastructure, construction and mortgage finance as the key challenges to address in order to accelerate the delivery of affordable housing units for the population.