The Deputy Minister of Works, Housing and Water Resources, Gizella Tetteh-Agbotui, has urged real estate developers to expand their investments beyond the southern part of the country to make quality housing developments accessible to people in the other regions.
She stressed that the concentration of real estate activities in the south was limiting the benefits of modern housing developments while potentially viable markets in other parts of the country remained largely untapped.
“Ghanaians in the Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Savannah, Bono, Ahafo and other regions equally deserve access to quality housing and modern real estate developments,” she said.
She was speaking at the media launch of the Graphic-GREDA Housing Fair 2026 in Accra Tuesday (Oct 27, 2026).
Housing Fair
The event, slated for December 3-5, 2026, is being organised by the Graphic Communications Group Ltd (GCGL) and the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA), in partnership with Media General.
It will focus on some of the major barriers to homeownership, including high construction costs, limited access to long-term financing and fraudulent property transactions.
Developers, financial institutions, regulators, prospective homeowners and other industry players will meet to explore practical solutions to the country’s housing challenges.
The three-day fair will feature an innovation hub showcasing alternative building materials and modern construction technologies, a housing finance hub connecting prospective homeowners and developers to financing opportunities, and a property verification and trust hub to guide land documentation, property verification and secure transactions. Green housing and smart-home solutions will also feature prominently at the fair.
Market research
Mrs Tetteh-Agbotui encouraged developers to undertake market research in underserved regions to identify potential customers, adding that relatively cheaper land could offer investment advantages.
She said decentralising housing development would help address regional disparities, stimulate local economies and open new markets for developers.
The Deputy Minister also urged greater adoption of sustainable local building materials to reduce construction costs while assuring developers of the government’s commitment to improving housing finance and supporting sustainable housing delivery.
“Access to finance remains a priority for this administration. Through the National Housing Fund, in partnership with the Republic Bank and other commercial banks, we have introduced a mortgage facility with an attractive interest rate of 8.4 per cent per annum.
“The government has also committed about GH¢1 billion to the fund for the 2027 fiscal year,” she said.
Affordable homes
The President of GREDA, Dr James Ato Orleans-Lindsay, said reducing the country’s housing deficit required greater reliance on locally produced building materials and innovative construction technologies.
He cited locally manufactured bricks, pozzolana cement and bamboo among alternatives that could lower construction costs, reduce dependence on imported materials and create jobs.
Dr Orleans-Lindsay also called for targeted tax incentives for locally manufactured building materials and a review of taxes that increased property acquisition costs.
He said with an enabling policy environment, access to land, affordable capital and stronger collaboration among government, developers and financial institutions, the private sector could work towards delivering at least 50,000 affordable homes within the next few years.
The Director, Marketing and Sales, of the GCGL, Franklin Sowa, said the company viewed its role in the housing sector as extending beyond reporting on its challenges to helping find solutions.
He said Graphic’s partnership with GREDA, which had continued for about five years, was intended to bring greater structure to an industry that affected virtually every member of society.
Mr Sowa said a special edition of the Daily Graphic dedicated to the country’s real estate sector would coincide with the fair while stakeholder discussions would focus on innovation, financing and property verification.
He said the platform would also incorporate green housing and smart-home technologies to provide a comprehensive housing solutions marketplace.
Mortgage financing
Representing the Managing Director of the Republic Bank (Ghana) PLC, Dr Benjamin Dzoboku, Frank Oppong-Yeboah drew attention to the paradox of the country’s housing situation, where large numbers of properties remained unfinished or vacant despite the housing deficit.
Citing the 2021 Population and Housing Census, he said about 2.1 million houses were uncompleted while another 1.27 million completed houses were unoccupied.
He attributed the situation partly to property prices being beyond the reach of intended buyers and inadequate knowledge of available financing options.
Mr Oppong-Yeboah said the Republic Bank was therefore prepared to intensify public education on financing options to help developers complete projects efficiently and prospective homeowners access suitable mortgage products.
