170,000 to 200,000 houses must be built annually to meet Ghana’s housing deficit – Freda Prempeh

The Minister of State for Works and Housing, Freda Prempeh has expressed conviction that Ghana’s housing deficit can be addressed if the country sees to the building of some 170,000 to 200,000 houses annually.

The Ghana Real Estates Developers Association (GREDA) projected that the total housing shortage in the country will hit 5.7 million by the year 2020. Ghana’s housing deficit now exceeds two million despite an annual supply of 40,000 housing units.

Speaking to Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, Freda Prempeh shared: “The private sector and individuals are doing their best by building their houses. Even with that when all is put together, it shows that we are able to build 45,000 to 50,000 annually but if you look at our housing deficit, we need to build between 170,000 to 200,000 a year. That has however not been possible”.

Freda while admitting that this has not been possible assured that the Government will do all it can to reduce Ghana’s housing deficit.

She noted that among the many initiatives by Government, the National Rent Assistance Scheme will see to it that the average Ghanaian gets a decent, yet affordable house to stay in.

In October last year, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said that his government is working to address the country’s housing deficit.

The President noted that through government’s new mortgage scheme, citizens will own their homes through mortgages underwritten at rates of between 10% and 12% among the participating banks; GCB, Standard Bank and Republic Bank.