B&FT: Land sector problems inhibit housing development

The Ghana Real Estate Developer Association (GREDA) held its annual CEO’s Breakfast Meeting Exhibition this week in Accra, and urged members to construct homes for low-income earners as well.

President of GREDA, Patrick Ebo Bonful, cautioned members to change their modus operandi and reach out to – and middle-level income earners, otherwise real estate developers will find it difficult to stay in business.

This does not come too much as a surprise because, according to data from GREDA itself, out of every ten homes built in recent times, six are built by homeowners themselves whiles the other four are provided by real estate developers.

While Ghana has become an estimated housing deficit of 2 million units, real estate companies in the country have been unable to bridge that deficit to any appreciable level because any the unit cost of their homes is beyond the reach of average Ghanaian workers – and that is the crux of the matter.

GREDA has been pushing for a response from President Akufo-Addo on a housing proposal it presented in November last year that outlines the association’s ability to construct 20,000 adequate affordable housing units per annum for the next 20 years.

To achieve this feat, the association is calling on government to help by providing litigation – free land banks, which would go a long way in supporting its efforts to reduce the nation’s housing deficits.

In the proposal, GREDA is seeking urgent government intervention in three crucial areas including a Review of the Home Mortgage Finance Act 2008, Act 770; Review of Lands Commission Act 2008, Land Title Registration Law 1986 (PNDCL 152) and Land Title Registration Regulation 1986, L.I. 1241; and the creation of government land banks – an innovative one-stop solution and cost effective way of creating litigation–free land banks across the length and breadth of Ghana.

Indeed, acquiring land for any developmental activity in the country is a hurdle to be scaled by any developer; and if care is not taken, the developer could abandon the venture in frustration owing to the complex nature of the land acquisition in the country.

To the extent that private developers prefer the services of land guards to protect their investments, that also comes with a lot of chaos and injury to both property and lives. Honestly, we couldn’t agree with real estate developers more, since the land sector is filled with problems that fuel litigation.

These issues need to be addressed if the housing deficit is to be bridged adequately.