‘Decentralise allocation of public houses’
The President of the Ghana Institute of Housing (GIH), Mrs Helen Ankrah, has proposed that the allocation of public houses must be decentralised to enable the metropolitan, municipal and districts assemblies (MMDAs) to determine people in dire need of accommodation.
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She said that category of people would include the homeless or those who live in overcrowded situations.
Mrs Ankrah made the proposal at a press briefing on the fifth edition of the Conference for Housing Excellence in Accra last Monday.
The conference is an annual event that brings together stakeholders in the housing industry to deliberate on how best to create sustainable, consistent, effective and efficient ways of addressing the housing needs of the country.
This year’s event, which will be held from September 23 to 25, is on the theme, “Integrated Housing Delivery as a Social Cohesive and Inclusive Strategy for National Development”
On the issue of housing deficit, Mrs Ankrah indicated that various figures had been given, adding, ‘but we do not know if these are realistic or not. In view of this, the work must begin at the district level because they know the number of people in their districts”
She said additionally, the assemblies would be in the best position to determine the type of housing that would suit people in their jurisdictions.
National Housing Policy
Mrs Ankrah also called for the adoption of realistic strategies for the implementation of the National Housing Policy (NHP), to ensure its success.
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She said, for instance, that because the policy makes for the active participation of the private sector in the housing industry, it would be neccessary for the government to make sure that lands developed by investors would be litigation free. “There is no point for an investor to invest his money if he will get embroiled in litigation that will take years to resolve,” she contended.
Affordability
A housing consultant, Mr Symon Sentain, also stressed the need for the reduction of interest rates in the country in order to provide housing developers with cheaper credit.
“Until government works with financial institutions to reduce interest rates, housing will still be a luxury,” he pointed out.