Work resumes on 80-unit govt affordable project
Work has resumed on an 80-unit government affordable housing project which was started under former President Professor John Evans Atta Mills, but stalled over 10 years ago due to litigation.
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The project, which is under the auspices State Housing Company (SHC) Limited, resumed following the lifting of perpetual injunction placed on the project. Named, the SHC Gardens and nicknamed Little London, it comprises two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments most of which are near completion.
Briefing the media after visiting the site to familiarise himself with the progress of work on the project and other projects in Accra, the Minister of Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said the developer took the company to court over a disagreement on the contract.
He said the developer's persistent failure to show up in court for years after investigation uncovered some mishaps on his part, the court lifted the injunction, paving the way for the company to resume work.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah said ensuring the resumption of the project formed part of the government’s strategy to see to the completion of all stalled and abandoned affordable housing projects scattered across the country as part of efforts to bridge the housing deficit, which was estimated at 1.8 million housing units.
He visited other projects being undertaken by the company with its internally generated funds and support from the government and those were the SHC Surge Homes at Amrahia and the Legacy Court, both in the Adentan Municipality.
Synergies and incentives
On SHC Surge Homes at Amrahia, the Mr Oppong Nkrumah explained that it had 200 homes comprising two, three, and four-bedroom apartments on a 40-acre land and was currently 75 per cent complete.
“But in particular to this Amrahia project, we are piloting synergies with other sectors of government, for example roads, water and energy. This to ensure that the developer does not bear the cost of providing those services to help reduce the cost of the units by up to 30 per cent.
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“The pilot is an opportunity for us to see how it would look like on the larger scale as we work with private developers and we are pleased by how it’s going,” Mr Oppong Nkrumah said.
The Works and Housing Minister said the inter-institutional synergies support formed part of the government’s incentives package to developers executing 500 units and above. Mr Oppong Nkrumah said the government had engaged widely, including the Ghana Association of Bankers and the central bank and the Ministry of Finance on what they could do to make it easier for the banks to underwrite more mortgages.
“The pensions funds as well have expressed their interests so that the combinations of these interventions on the demands side also helps the banks to get long term cheaper funding to give more mortgages to people.
The minister said as part of the government’s broad strategy to bridge the housing deficit, it was leveraging on public-private partnerships to bridge the gap with 10 years. Mr Oppong Nkrumah said with that the government was estimating a delivery of 180,000 housing units every year, instead of the current 40,000 units.
“And the way to move from 40,000 units to 180,000 units is by supporting the private sector to deliver faster and better,” he explained. Addressing the issue of affordability, he explained that with demand outweighed supply by 1.8 million, some actors in the industry would take advantage of buyer.
The Managing Director of the SHC, Kwabena Ampofo Appiah, who conducted the minister round the properties, said the 40-unit Legacy Court at Adenta comprised three-and four-bedroom flats, which were constructed from the internally generated resources of the SHC without governmental financing.
Writer’s email: doreen.andoh@graphic.com.gh