Tackling Ghana’s housing deficit

Last Thursday, a deputy minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing launched 100 estate houses with a pledge that the ministry would support estate developers who would be innovative and creative in their work. Obviously, this is a recognition of the dire nature of the housing situation.  

Indeed, to say that the shortage of housing in Ghana is negatively impacting on the country's socio-economic development is to state the obvious. With increasing population growth, the lack of housing is a matter that needs to be tackled with all hands on deck.

Current data indicates that the country’s housing deficit is about 1.7 million, which, according to experts, could be an underestimation and thus not a true reflection of the shortage of shelter in the country. Estate developers estimate that a minimum of 85,000 housing units are needed annually to address the nation’s housing deficit over the next two decades.

According to them, the same figure has been quoted for the past four to five years as representing the country’s housing deficit, forgetting that the population has been increasing with time, as statistics indicate that Ghana’s annual population growth rate is three per cent.

The Millennium Development Goal (MDG 7) Target 11, states that by 2020, a significant improvement would have been achieved in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers. But meeting this time frame and the numerical targets of the MDGs will require a national urban policy, slum upgrading, institutional strengthening and a budgetary provision which would have been the starting point. However, budgets are silent on all the above-mentioned policies.

Housing is a basic human right which should be enjoyed by every Ghanaian. Yet many Ghanaians find themselves without homes or their accommodation may be inadequate. This makes these people more vulnerable and unable to participate fully in the wider society. 

All Ghanaians are entitled to affordable and sustainable housing and decisions on housing must help strengthen communities and enhance ecological sustainability.

Safe and secure housing is fundamental to the health and well-being of individuals, families, communities and the environment and failure to provide it will affect the wider environment.

This is why the government and the major stakeholders in the housing industry must collaborate to find a long-term solution to the raging shortage of shelter for the increasing population.

Many announcements have been made of plans to construct houses but a great number of them have not been delivered.

We recall that in 2012, for example, the Daily Graphic reported that Parliament had approved a document for the provision of 4,200 housing units and associated infrastructure for public service workers.

The deal was an Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD) loan agreement between the Government of Ghana, Barclays Bank (as Co-ordinating Mandated Lead Arranger) and her Britannnic Majesty’s Secretary of State for an amount of $170 million, as well as a medium-term loan facility from CAL Bank Limited and other local banks for $30 million for the co-financing of the design and construction of the buildings.

The project was to be undertaken by Italconstruct International Limited, a wholly Ghanaian-owned real estate development company.

This project and others on the drawing board will go a long way to add to the housing stock of the country if the government  ratifies the agreement for the project to begin.

After all, it is meant to benefit government employees. A stitch in time saves nine!