Ghanaian housing exhibition opened in London

The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Kwamena Bartels, has said the government is taking measures to address some of the major problems facing the housing industry in the country.

These measures, he said are aimed at reducing the cost of houses, especially those built by estate developers, and to make them more accessible to many Ghanaians.

Mr Bartels made the disclosure when he opened the first Ghanaian housing exhibition, organised by Regalon International in London at the week-end.

Twenty-five Ghanaian estate developers took part in the impressive and well-patronised exhibition which was aimed at persuading Ghanaians in the UK to own houses at home.

The Minister identified some of the major problems facing the housing industry as land acquisition, funding and the provision of utility services as water, roads and electricity.

He noted that if these facilities were adequately adequately the cost of houses in the country, would reduce considerably.

Mr Bartels hinted that government was seriously considering the possibility of assisting estate developers with the provision of utility services at their development sites.

The plan, he said, is to ensure that they dove-tail into the general planning of the country in order to avoid such disasters as the recent floods in Accra.

The Minister also hinted that the government was considering the establishment of a new mortgage insurance company to take care of the interests of developers and potential buyers.

The government, he added was also considering long-term funding for estate developers to help ease the accommodation problem in the country.

To this end the Minister announced that the government had sourced some 50 million dollars facility from the US to be given to developers through the Ghana Real Estate Development Association (GREDA).

It is a ten-year facility carrying an interest of five per cent and is aimed at reducing the cost of houses and assisting Ghanaians to pay for them over long periods.

Mr Bartels indicated that within the next two months developers should be able to access these funds but cautioned that measures would be taken to ensure repayments.

He said part of the amount would go to the Home Finance Company (HFC) while the remainder would go to some nominated banks which would give guarantees to the government on repayments by developers.

On land acquisition, the Minister said government had plans to assist estate developers acquire identified lands through an executive instrument to forestall the problems associated with land acquisition.

Under the arrangement chiefs and individuals who have title in such lands would then have to go to the Lands Commission to collect their compensations.

The minister urged Ghanaians in the diaspora to take advantage of the positive change that is taking place in the country and buy houses with a view to relocating to help in the national reconstruction effort.

In his welcoming remarks Ghana's acting high commissioner to the United Kingdom, Mr Chris Kpodo, commended Mr Samuel Antwi, managing director of Regal on international for the initiative to bring together Ghanaian estate developers and to provide them with the opportunity to market their products.

He urged estate developers to relate the cost of their products to the conditions of their prospective beneficiaries, reminding them that low rates when fairly and openly applied could be a powerful and competitive tool to stimulate and boost economic growth.

The acting high commissioner therefore entreated the estate developers to carefully appreciate the economic situations of their targeted consumers and design their products and services in a manner to create superior returns in investment for their beneficiaries.

He also appealed to financiers to constantly review their credit risk measurement methods bearing in mind that individual risk weights depend on the broad category of the borrower.