35 percent of Ghana's population cannot access housing even with gov't support - Minister

The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Francis Asenso-Boakye, says Ghana's housing deficit is in excess of two million housing units.

He said it was currently estimated that 60 per cent of the country’s population would need some form of government assistance to help them to get access to housing.

However, he expressed concerns that 35 per cent of the population would not be able to access housing even with government support in terms of subsidy.

Mr Asenso-Boakye made these remarks at the maiden discussion series christened “Home Ownership Series”, and initiated by the First National Bank, Glitz Africa Living and GLICO in Accra last Thursday.

He said the Akufo-Addo administration is aware of the enormity of the housing challenge that the country faced.

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To remedy the situation, Mr Asenso-Boakye said the government would set up a National Housing Authority (NHA) to lead the supply side of the housing market.

He said the NHA would not only serve as a regulator but would also plan, develop and manage housing development in the country.

“Ultimately, the objective for setting up the NHA is to decouple the planning, development and management of housing projects of the ministry from its core mandate of formulating, coordinating and monitoring the implementation of policies.

“Interventions in the past have been piecemeal, resulting in the country struggling with a housing deficit, currently in excess of two million housing units. Sadly, government-led housing projects suffer during the implementation stage, causing them to stall or be abandoned when there is a change in government,” he said as quoted by Graphiconline.