GHANA Housing Profile

Housing and Settlements

Student No: 130443540

Module: TCP8926

MSc Planning for Developing Countries

Architecture, Planning & Landscape

Newcastle University

16th May 2014

GHANA: Housing Profile

GHANA: HOUSING PROFILE Student no. 130443540

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Ghana…………………………………………………………………………….2

2. Policy overview……………………………………………………………………………………….3

2.1. Housing policies………………………………………………………………………………..4

2.2. National Development Plans…………………………………………………………….5

2.3. Draft National Housing Policy…………………………………………………………..6

3. Tenure system………………………………………………………………………………………..6

4. Current housing stock……………………………………………………………………………..8

4.1. Households……………………………………………………………………………………….8

4.2. Type of housing…………………………………………………………………………………9

4.3. Building materials……………………………………………………………………………11

4.4. Housing supply………………………………………………………………………………..11

5. Housing shortfall and future need……………………………………………………….…12

6. Housing affordability……………………………………………………………………………..15

7. Overview on financial support…………………………………………………………….…18

8. Accra: the informal city………………………………………………………………………….19

9. Barriers to development and Suggestions for improvement…………………..21


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1. INTRODUCTION to GHANA

Ghana is a Sub-Saharan country located in

the western part of Africa, sharing borders

with Cote d’Ivoire to the west and Togo to

the east, Burkina Faso to the north, and is

bordered by the Gulf of Guinea and the

Atlantic Ocean to the south (CIA, 2014).

Covering an area of 238,533 sq. km, with

227,533 sq. km of land and 11,000 sq. km of

water, Ghana has an estimated population of

25 million, comprising many different ethnic

groups, with the main ones being:

Akan 47.5%, Mole-Dagbon 16.6%, Ewe 13.9%, Ga-Dangme 7.4%, Gurma 5.7%, Guan 3.7%,

Grusi 2.5%, Mande-Busanga 1.1% and other groups account together for 1.6% (Population

and Housing Census, 2010).

Its capital city is Accra, situated in the southeast of the country in the Greater Accra Region,

with a population of more than 2.2 million people in 2012. The second main Ghanaian city

is Kumasi, chief town of the Ashanti Region, with around 2 million people in 2013 (CIA,

2014).

Initially under British dominion, Ghana has been the first Sub-Saharan colony to obtain

independence, in 1957 and it is now a constitutional democracy.

Image 1. Map of Ghana Source:www.theodora.com/maps, used with permission


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2. POLICY OVERVIEW

Implementation of housing policies in Ghana has always been problematic; often these

policies stalled or were abandoned before being approved. The reasons behind this

difficulty in the approval and implementation stage are mainly related to political

instability and financial incapacity (Yeboah & Loopsman, 2012). The major flaw in these

terms has always been the Government’s perception of housing, considering it as part of

the social well-fare sector and, consequentially, not giving to it the importance and the

space it deserves in policy-making (Arku, 2009). However, this does not mean that the

Government of Ghana is unaware of the housing problems afflicting the country; on the

contrary, the Government perfectly knows about the housing situation and especially

about the urgent need of affordable houses for the poor (Yeboah & Loopsman, 2012). In

fact, some effort have been made both before and after independence, but – as stated

previously – the lack of political and financial stability largely affected the success of

proposed interventions (Arku, 2009).

Before Ghana’s independence, the colonial government used to plan housing solutions

designed for a specific problem or situation, which were not intended to adapt to other

purposes; example of this has been the Earthquake Victim’s Housing Scheme, meant to

provide subsidised houses to the people affected by Accra’s earthquake in 1939 (UN-

HABITAT, 2004).

In the early years of independence, there have been some financial interventions targeting

the housing sector, in order to enhance the some estate housing projects. Unfortunately,


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these projects focused only on the three main cities: Accra, Kumasi and Sekondi-Takoradi,

preventing most of low-income groups to benefit from them (Arku, 2009).

2.1 Housing Policies

The first real housing policy was introduced in 1986; this was The National Housing Policy

and Action Plan, followed by another two policies dedicated to housing, The National

Shelter Strategy, part I and part II. Unfortunately, none of these policies were never

implemented nor officially approved (Government of Ghana, 1987 and 1992).

The National Housing Policy and Action Plan (1987-1990) focused on interventions

regarding land acquisition, housing delivery, development of labour and development

of the building materials. It stalled mainly because of financial issues and also because

the Ministry involved in its creation considered it not effective (Government of Ghana,

1987).

The National Shelter Strategy (1992) derived from the necessity to create a

comprehensive plan that focused on improving the quality and the accessibility of

shelters, encouraging the participation of the private sector and the enhancement of

rental housing. This policies underwent several revisions, the last one in 2000, which

however did not add anything new, but rather highlighted the need to accelerate the

whole processes related to the shelter plan (Government of Ghana, 1992). Although

several revisions, the National Shelter Plan never become effective and was

abandoned mainly because the political drive shifted from housing to other sectors

and the lack of commitment towards it definitely halted it (UN-HABITAT, 2004).


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2.2 National Development Plans

In 1996, Ghana’s Government initiated the creation of a new national plan, known as

Ghana Vision 2020, aimed to

“transform Ghana from a poor, undeveloped, low-income country into a vibrant,

prosperous middle-income country within a generation”

(Government of Ghana, 1995).

In fact, this National Development Policy Framework was meant to cover a period of 25

years, from 1996 to 2020, proceeding with 5-year medium-term plans. Predictably, the lack

of Government’s commitment, together with lack of funds and lack of private sector

involvement were the reasons why the strategies that referred to housing were never

implemented and Ghana Vision 2020 stalled at its First Medium-Term Development Plan,

which was subsequently replaced by the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (Government

of Ghana, 2000).

The Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS I, 2003 – 2005), combined with the

subsequent Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II, 2006 – 2009) aim “towards

the attainment of anti-poverty objectives” and “to accelerate the growth of the economy”

and represent Ghana’s current national framework, in which housing has a dedicated

chapter although it still remains within the social well-fare sector (Government of Ghana,

2002 and 2005).


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2.3 Draft National Housing Policy

In 2012, the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing started drafting a new

National Housing Policy, which aims to:

Promote private sector participation

Promote investments for rental purposes

Maximise land utilisation

Upgrade existing housing stock

Support the construction of housing within income and rental range of the poor

It is yet to be seen if this new housing policy will met its targets or if it will fail like the

previous one (Yeboah & Loopmans, 2012).

3. TENURE SYSTEM

Ghana has a very complex and intricate land tenure system. Such system is a duality of

customary and statutory law (Abdulai & Ndekugri, 2007; Ollennu, 1962). Around 80% of

land in Ghana is under customary tenure and is vested in chiefs or tribe priests. The

Government owns around 20% of land, but this also includes a type of vested land, which

is legally property of the State, but in practice, the local communities benefit from it as if

it was Community land (GSS, 2002).

While public land is controlled and managed by Government, all customary land is vested

in chieftaincies. Customary land is usually identified as stool/skin or family land (Tipple et

al., 1991).


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Stool (southern Ghana) or Skin (northern Ghana) lands are communal lands that belong to

a group of clans or families, which descend from a common ancestor, while Family lands

simply belong to a smaller single family (Tipple et al., 1991).

Customary land is held by a chief in trust for and on behalf of the stool/skin community.

Ghanaian culture defines “community” as the set of all the ancestors, all the currently living

generation and all those yet to be born. In these terms, customary land is seen as

something sacred, which each generation has to preserve for the next one to arrive; in fact,

land is not sold in Ghana and selling it is traditionally considered as an offence to the

community (Ollennu, 1962). However, this tradition is slowly weakening at least in the

biggest cities, Accra and Kumasi, where the risen economy and housing market are

stronger drives compared to traditions (Abdulai & Ndekugri, 2008).

In Ghana, there are three main forms of tenure rights:

Allodial Interest, which is the upmost form of tenure right and is held by stools

and skins - specifically managed by the chief.

Customary Freehold, which is a form second only to the Allodial Interest and is

held by the members of the owning community, granting absolute property.

Leasehold Interest, which allows people to own land for a certain period and is the

only right granted to “strangers”, namely non-members of the owning community.

Although the customary and statutory system co-exist, the former is negatively affecting

the latter due two few significant issues. A big problem related to the customary system is

the lack of a proper land title registration process and the lack of an updated and clear


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cadastre (Abdulai & Ndekugri, 2008). Clouded titles and subsequent litigation for land

ownership are the two main obstacles to housing development, since it enormously delays

all activities related to housing, such as construction, renting, and etcetera (Sittie, 2006).

4. CURRENT HOUSING STOCK

Ghana’s housing stock has constantly increased, reaching the highest growth rate since 1960 in the

decade between 2000 and 2010, with a 4.4% rate. Therefore, while in 1960 the housing stock

counted 636.189 housing units, the number increased to around 2 million in 2000 and 3.3 million

in 2010 (World Bank, 2012).

The two regions of Ashanti and Greater Accra had the highest annual growth rate, with percentages

above 5% each; they also account for 30.9% of all the housing stock in Ghana. However, this is no

surprise given that the two main and biggest cities are located in these regions, respectively Kumasi

(Ashanti Region) and Accra (Greater Accra Region), which also is Ghana’s capital city (CIA, 2014).

In 2010, rural Ghana experienced a decrease in its housing stock (57.7%), mainly because of the

increased urbanisation, which brought more than half of the population into urban areas.

Although the overall housing stock is increasing throughout the years, the number of available

houses is still not enough to address the huge housing need of Ghana’s population (Housing and

Population Census, 2010).

4.1 Households

Following the urbanisation trend, the number of households in Ghana increased greatly, counting

more than 5 million households in 2010. However, there has been a decrease in the number of

people per household together with a decrease in the number of households per housing unit,

implying a slightly reduction of density within a dwelling unit, even though this did not affect the


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overcrowding rate, which still remain very high. While in 2000 there were in average 5 people per

household and 1.7 households per unit, in 2010 this number decreased respectively to 4.4 and 1.6

(Housing and Population Census, 2010).

4.2 Types of housing

Before the 2000 Population and Housing Census there was almost no information at all regarding

housing conditions and housing types. Thanks to the first national census (2000) after Ghana’s

independence in 1957, the Ghana Statistical Service managed to identify 10 different types of

dwelling units, as shown below.

The main and most common type of housing is the compound, which represented 44.5% of all

housing types in 2000 and 51.5% in 2010, despite the recent trend that considers compound

houses out of fashion and that younger generations tend to dislike the compound living

environment, aiming for a more private and intimate housing type (Population and Housing

Census, 2010).

Table 1. Types of housing Data Source: 2010 Population and Housing Census


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In fact, compounds are a

group of enclosed buildings

usually occupied by the

members of an extended

family who share common

spaces and facilities

(Andreasen et al., 2005).

The second most common dwelling type is the detached house that, in line with the previously

mentioned trend, has increased from 25.3% of the total housing stock in 2000, to 28.7% in 2010.

Image 2. Example of compound housing

Image 3. Detached "villa" houses examples


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On the contrary, the percentage of semi-detached houses – the third main housing type in Ghana

– decreased drastically from 15.3% in 2000 to 7.1% in 2010 (Population and Housing Census,

2010).

4.3 Building materials

According to the 2000 Population and Housing Census, the most popular building material

is sandcrete, a mixture of cement, sand and water, and it accounts for 60% of the total

urban houses in Ghana. In fact, both formal high/medium-income dwellings and informal

low-income dwelling use sandcrete blocks as building material especially for walls. What

really differs from formal and informal housing is the quality of the building materials and

the details of the finishing that are used in different part of the housing unit. One particular

distinctive feature is the roofing, modern and coloured for the formal sector and mainly

asbestos for the informal sector (Assibey-Mensah, 2008).

4.4 Housing supply

Both the housing market and the construction industry in Ghana are clearly well divided

into two separate sectors: formal and informal.

The private and formal sector delivers only 10% or even less of housing and does not

address at all the needs of low-income groups and often not even of the medium-income

groups, who can barely afford to buy the houses placed on the private market.

Additionally, the formal sector is comprehensively supported and assisted by the

Government in all aspects, from regulation to financial support and it focuses its housing

supply only to the very exclusive group of high-incomers, which obtain housing from

buying it from the formal market (UN-HABITAT, 2011).


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The informal sector is the bulk of housing delivery and it is

represented by individuals who decide to have saved enough in order

to build their own house, which is also the main way to obtain housing

within the informal sector, which accounts for around 90% of the total

housing supply (GSS, 2008). Another quite popular form of housing

provision in the informal sector is through family houses, which are

inherited and therefore, those who inherit them are entitled to live

rent-free; around one third of all urban households live rent-free

(Tipple et al., 1992).

In the informal sector, building a house can usually take decades:

dwellings are built in situ and are funded by an individual’s savings,

so the building process encounters many halts due to the exhaustion of funds and it will

start again once the individual/owner/builder manages to gain enough money again

(Tipple et al., 1999).

Overall, there is no housing shortage for the high-income groups and to some extent

neither for medium-income groups, the real problem lies in the huge housing shortage for

low-income people, who represent the majority of Ghana’s population (Tipple et al., 1997).

Ghana is facing a severe and ongoing housing problem, especially in terms of housing need.

5. HOUSING SHORTFALL AND FUTURE NEED

It is particularly difficult to make an accurate estimate of Ghana’s housing need especially

because, for Ghanaians a dwelling unit is not meant in a conventional way. In fact,

Ghanaians mostly live in rooms within larger building, usually occupied by many

Table 2. Informal housing building process


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households, rather than separate units such as houses, furthermore statistics show that

often there are more than one household per dwelling unit, transcending the Census

definition of dwelling unit as “a specific area or space occupied by a particular household”

(Bank of Ghana, 2007). Furthermore, rooms represent the main type of dwelling unit even

though they do not fit the conventional definition of dwelling unit since they are not

separated, within the building that contains them, from the units of other households (GSS,

2008).

Several studies were conducted throughout the decade between 2000 and 2010 to make

an estimate of the housing need in Ghana and also several different criteria have been

used (Amoa-Mensah, 2003; UN-HABITAT, 2004; Mahama & Antwi, 2006; Asiamah, 2006;

Bank of Ghana, 2007).

The easiest way to determine housing need is based on the assumption that each

household needs a house. At the moment, the only comprehensive data available is based

on the 2000 Population and Housing Census, as the data from 2010 has not been yet fully

analysed. In 2000, the Ghana’s urban population account for 8.2 million people; if

considering the average number of people per household at the time considered (5.1), it

has been calculated that there were approximately 1.7 million households in urban Ghana,

this means that, applying the average number of households per housing unit (1.7), there

was a shortfall of approximately 730.000 housing units and a subsequent estimated need

of around 2.7 million units by 2020, implying a supply rate of around 140.000 units per

year (UN-HABITAT, 2001 – based on Population and Housing Census, 2000).


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Nevertheless, this evaluation is too simplistic and does not reflect properly the housing

situation in Ghana as for the reasons mentioned previously. In fact, most Ghanaians live in

rooms within multi-household building and not in separated houses (Korboe, 1992).

Therefore, the housing need can be calculated a bit more accurately basing the evaluation

on the size of households. On this premise, in 2000, it has been estimated a need for 1.7

million rooms considering the preferable rate of 2 people per room and a need of 280.000

rooms for the maximum acceptable rate of 3 people per room (UN-HABITAT, 2001 – based

on Population and Housing Census, 2000). However, these numbers only cover the housing

shortage and do not take into account a projected need of new units for future population.

So, in order to fulfil the future housing need, different sets of data are provided:

The amount of rooms needed only by new provision

The total of rooms needed considering the shortfall at 2000 plus new provisions

The amount of rooms needed less the estimated supply between 2000 and 2010

Table 3. Rooms required in urban areas for new households from 2000

Table 4. Total rooms required in urban areas 2000-2020 (millions)


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As shown above, the total housing need is estimated to be of approximately 7 million units

at a rate of 2 people per rooms and of approximately 4 million units at a rate of 3 people

per room. However, if taking for good that between 2000 and 2010 there has been a

supply of 1.5 million units, then (Table 5) the overall housing need by 2020 will account

for less than 6 million units at 2 people per room and less than 3 million units at 3 people

per room, meaning that approximately 570.000 rooms are to be provided annually.

However, it is necessary to keep in mind that these estimates are probably far behind the

real housing need due to Ghana’s urban population growing at an impressive rate and

also because it is quite unlikely that the number of people per rooms will never exceed

the maximum of 3, considering that at the moment there is an average of 4 people per

household and more than one household per room.

6. HOUSING AFFORDABILITY

To understand if housing is affordable or not in Ghana, there are two main features to be

taken into account: income per capita and housing price (UN-HABITAT, 2001).

According to the World Bank (2012) Ghana is classifies as a lower-middle-income country

due to its GDP amounting to 40.7 billion US dollars. However, in comparison, the GNI

Table 5. Total rooms required by 2020 less 1.5 mln rooms supplied 2000-2010 (millions)


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amounts at 1.550 US dollars and, as shown in the graph below, falls quite beneath the

lower-middle-income line.

Combining this data with the average housing price, it is evident that houses in Ghana are

not affordable for the majority of Ghanaians (Boamah, 2010). For this and other reasons,

renting is the main and most accessible form of tenure that Ghanaians can cope with,

accounting for 41% of all tenure forms in urban Ghana (GSS, 2008).

Nevertheless, the renting system is not well managed nor regulated by the Government

if not to make it more difficult for homeowners to provide it (Willis et al., 1191). In

addition, the inappropriate rental control, mostly based on the Rent Act 1963, aggravated

the situation, not giving the results that were expected, namely helping to enable access

to housing for the urban poor. In fact, renting control firstly discourages private

investments in rental units, because no profit can be made out of them and it also

discourages owners from maintaining their houses in good conditions, since it is not worth

anymore and because they usually lack of funds to do so (Willis at al., 1991). Furthermore,

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

US

Do

llars

Year

Figure 1. Gross National Income Per CapitaSource: World Bank, 2012

Ghana Lower Middle Income


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the guidelines set by the Rent Act, 1963, have been largely ignored. Therefore, while by

law property owners are required to ask for a maximum of six months of rent payments

in advance, the reality is that normally tenants have to pay the equivalent of three years'

rent in advance, implying that they will need to borrow money to be able to afford renting

(UN-HABITAT, 2011).

According to the Rent Act 1963, property owners can only charge 6 months’ rent in

advance, and succeeding rents are due every six months; however, in practice, property

owners charge one to three years rent in advance (Willis et al., 1990). In order to address

this issue, in 2010 the Government proposed the Rent Bill aimed to amend the previous

Rent Act 1963, trying to set limits to the property owners demands of rent in advance,

although it will be likely to lack enforcement due to low fines that have been prescript

(Government of Ghana, 2010).

41%

26%

32%

1%

Urban GhanaRenting Houses

Owned Houses

Rent-Free Houses

Other

Figure 2. Tenure forms in urban Ghana

Source: GSS, 2008


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Ultimately, it can be assessed that housing unaffordability finds it causes in low incomes

and not in housing prices; for example, the house cost to income ratio in Accra is 14:1

(Grant, 2007). Besides, the cost of land and housing construction is already very cheap

and the possibility to reduce it even more is highly unlikely and unachievable (Karley, 2008).

7. OVERVIEW on FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Ghana’s financial sector is quite weak and virtually does not provide assistance to the

majority of the population in terms of housing (Akuffo, 2007). Financial support is only

given to a restrict group of high-incomers, since lower income groups present a far too

high risk for banks and official moneylenders bodies. According to this scenario, most

Ghanaians tend not to rely on the formal financial system; they rather borrow money from

relatives or friends if they do not manage to save enough themselves (Braimah, 2008).

Table 6. Where do people get money. A selection of low-income urban areas (Braimah, 2008).

Source Ashaiman Nima James Town Saltpond Tamale

Own savings 80 72 66 42.5 32.5

Relatives and friends 18 24 20 52.5 62.5

Money lender 2 4 2 7.5 0

Credit Union 0 0 0 0 2.5

Bank Credit 0 2.5 0 0 0

It is commonly said that “Ghanaians tend not to borrow to build housing; they borrow to

do business and then use business profits to build housing” (UH-HABITAT, 2011). This gives


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a clear description of the current financial situation in Ghana, where there is almost no

link between housing and finance and where people have to depend on their savings

because loans and mortgages are completely out of their reach.

8. ACCRA: the INFORMAL CITY

Rapid urbanisation and incredible population growth transformed Accra in the biggest and

most overcrowded informal city of the country. Around 40% of its urban population lives

in slums and around 90% of non-agricultural employment is informal (GSS, 2008).

Of course, the most common types of dwellings in Accra, as in the rest of Ghana, area

compound houses, detached and semi-detached houses, compounds houses are usually

build informally, under customary law and, therefore, mostly without building permission;

it has to be pointed out that informal dwellings are not considered illegal but rather outside

of the policy framework. Detached and semi-detached house are built both informally and

formally, with the latter situation being the most common (Tipple, et al., 1999). High-

income groups, who usually rely on the formal housing market, also because private estate

developers focus entirely on housing designed for rich people, in fact, prefer these type of

houses.

Despite a minority who dwells “formally”, all over Accra, low-income people build

wherever and with whatever mean they can possibly find; it is in fact very common to see

several informal dwellings rising alongside luxurious villas and estates, simply because

there is no more space for Accra’s urban population (Konadu-Agyemang, 2001).


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The living conditions are also severely affected by this extremely overcrowded situation. It

can be seen in the pictures how a large part of Accra’s population is forced to live in highly

unhealthy and hazardous environments (Arku, 2001; Songsore et al., 2009).

Accra’s largest slum settlement, Old Fadama, accounts for 80 thousand people living in an

area of about 0.3 sq. km. As shown in the pictures, housing in Old Fadama is of the worst

type than can be found in whole Ghana. Both the building materials and the building

techniques are unsafe. Old Fadama’s living environment is worsened by the fact that this

slum settlement is the world’s leading destination for electronic waste - mainly from

Europe and the United States - that covers the settlement from top to bottom (Songsore

et al., 2009).

Together with the previously mentioned urban population growth, one of the main causes

of these situations is the lack of Government involvement in addressing the issue. In fact,

the Government of Ghana never made affordable housing a priority in its policies,

neglecting the needs of the low-income groups (Wily et al., 2001).

Image 4 and 5. Old Fadama


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9. BARRIERS to DEVELOPMENT & SUGGESTIONS for IMPROVEMENT

It has been brought to attention that the formal sector and the institutional framework

are unable to address the majority of housing issues. A brief conclusion aims to highlight

the main obstacles towards housing development and some proposed suggestion to

address the issues.

There are several obstacles to housing development:

Lack of Government involvement in addressing the needs of the poor, especially

the urban poor, who live in severe overcrowding conditions and in highly unsafe

environment.

Lack of a clear cadastre within the customary system, plus unclear and clouded

titles that creates confusion in terms of who really owns the land, delaying and

preventing economical and financial activities related to housing.

Lack of financial support for the bulk of Ghana’s population, namely the urban

poor, with an exclusive focus on supporting the formal sector that only comprises

high-income groups.

Very low wages that impede most Ghanaians to access the housing market and to

improve their housing conditions.

Some suggestions that can be made will have to focus especially on shifting the attention

from the small, high-income, formal sector and dedicating the efforts towards the

enhancement of the living conditions of the urban poor (UN-HABITAT, 2010).


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Especially:

The Government of Ghana needs to focus on the provision of adequate housing

that is affordable for the majority of the population, instead of concentrating its

resources on delivering for high-income groups.

The potential to reduce the costs of the housing industry (labour, building

materials, land cost, etc.) is very low. Therefore, an effort to improve wages for

low-incomers is of upmost importance. Furthermore, employment can be

enhanced making the most of the construction industry itself. Focusing on this

sector will be fundamental in order to improve the status of Ghana’s population:

more housing can be supplied while increasing the number of jobs available.


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Documents

GHANA Housing Profile