Campaign to collect housing data launched
A campaign to collect a demographic-based housing data nationwide has been launched, to ascertain the actual housing deficit and, therefore, the needed housing units.
The data will improve available information on national housing needs and challenges and help the government to formulate policies to address the current deficit of more than 1.7 million housing units.
The campaign, dubbed: “Homes for all,” is an initiative of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and has been adopted by the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing.
As part of the campaign, 10,000 houses would be constructed nationwide, to be financed by a social investor over a period of five years on a pilot basis.
Housing needs
The Director of the Centre of Excellence for Housing Studies at the KNUST, Ms Helen Ankrah, said demographic data collected would enable stakeholders, including the government, to appreciate the real housing needs of the people to facilitate strategic framework in the attempt to address the housing deficit.
She noted that for decades, stakeholders had failed to continue the legacy of the first government to build homes for those who needed them most.
“Through the private sector, we claim to be building homes for middle-class income earners who are only a few but in reality could barely afford those homes due to high prices,” she said.
Government’s priority
Launching the campaign, the Deputy Minister in charge of housing at the sector ministry, Mr Sampson Ahi, applauded the KNUST for the initiative and described it as a good cause.
He said the demographic-based data that would be collected would help the government to provide houses to meet the exact needs of the target group.
He said the government placed priority on the provision of homes for all, because it saw it as a basic human right.
Mr Ahi explained that that was the reason for the initiation of the several affordable housing projects nationwide as well as the national housing policy.
He added that the national housing policy was also to facilitate massive private sector participation since the government alone could not address the current housing deficit in the short term.
Mr Ahi said 170,000 housing units were required annually to solve the deficit over the next 10 years.
“As a ministry, we believe it is time to consolidate all the research work and come out with the necessary information which will set the pace for a strategic framework to deliver the objectives of the National Housing Policy,” he said.
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