It is common knowledge that the housing sector is of great importance to the economy and is a dependable indicator for measuring the economic growth of our country. Francis Asenso-Boakye, Minister of Works and Housing said this when he graced GREDA’s annual CEO’s breakfast meeting in Accra.
The program which was under the theme "Reducing Ghana’s Housing Deficit-Advocating for Efficient Government Intervention." had honorable Francis Asenso-Boakye as a special guest of honor also had in attendance the chief executive officers of real estate companies and members of the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA).
Below are the bulleted extracts of the minister’s ten minutes speech at the program which centered on the potential that the housing industry holds in the development of the country
- The government will create an enabling environment for the sector to thrive since the system has failed to meet the needs of the low to middle-income group of Ghanaians. ‘As a government, we will continue to create enabling environments for the sector to thrive, though the sector has presented strives of positive growth over the term the housing delivery system has failed to meet the needs of the low to the middle-income group of Ghanaians’ he said.
- Ghana’s urban population is 57% of the total population with an urbanization rate of 5.8% since 2010. This has made housing one of the developmental issues facing the country and since the required support from the government is not coming the affordability gap has increased to the point where the housing deficit is more than 1.8 million housing units. Recent statistics from the 2020/2021 population census reported that housing characteristics have revealed that approximately 12.7% of the total structures counted were vacant housing units which is a clear indication that the housing supply has outrun the average person in Ghana and called for the need for it to be addressed in the society.
- The government has prioritized the delivery of affordable housing units and decided to address the affordability gap and increase affordable housing options thereby reducing the deficit. In doing this the ministry intends to integrate affordable housing, reduce private sector investment, and endanger the mobilization of the capacity of the nonprofit sector towards meeting the needs of the low-income households and other vulnerable groups such as children, women the disabled, and the elderly.
- This strategy of the government is to secure land bans provide requisite infrastructure services to the site designated as affordable housing enclaves to leverage private sector investment for affordable housing construction. The government will strengthen tax incentives available to attract private sector capital. A homeownership fund was created to provide cedi denominated and credible mortgages to enable the average Ghanaian, especially public servant afford housing unit
Hon. Asenso-Boakye revealed that his ministry has initiated two parallel projects, one at Pokuase in Accra and one at Kumasi, and urged GREDA members to partner with the government and also embrace the current framework of government to invest in the provision of affordable housing where the housing deficit is prevalent.
Source: Catherine Naa Adjorkor Adjei
