Acting Rent Control Commissioner, Frederick Opoku, has said some student hostel operators are running their facilities like hotels by charging students high rents.

According to him, on JoyNews on August 19, 2026, students who pay for an academic year are often required to leave their rooms after the academic period, despite the academic year being shorter than 12 months.

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He said students should normally be able to leave their belongings in their rooms and return the following academic year if they have paid for the year.

“We know that we typically have two semesters, that is, four months, which is eight months. They say ‘academic year’; in our local parlance, a year is a year, as a tenant. It's 12 months,” he said.

Opoku said the practice of asking students to vacate their rooms after the academic year makes the hostels operate like hotels.

He said some hostel owners ask students to leave even after paying for the academic year, citing reasons such as the need to accommodate other programmes or activities.

“Now, they are running the place like a hotel. They are running it like a hotel. When the time comes, they will just get them out, saying that they will have sandwich programs and so on and so forth and get them out. For me and for us, this is where the matter lies,” he stated.

He also questioned the amount students pay for shared rooms, saying the charges generate significant income for hostel operators.

According to him, four students paying between GH¢5,000 and GH¢6,500 each could result in a hostel operator collecting between GH¢20,000 and GH¢30,000 from one room.

“The point is that typically in a year, they spend eight months not 12 months in the hostel. So, you see if each is paying GH¢5,000 to GH¢6,500, for 4 people in a room, they are taking between GH¢20,000, GH¢24,000 to some GH¢30,000,” he disclosed.

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Opoku said the amount is high compared with rents for single rooms in some of Accra’s prime areas.

“Even in East Legon, the best place here in Accra, you will not even get that single room [charging] GH¢30,000,” he added.

MAG/VPO

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