New rent law in the offing - Housing Minister hints

• The current rent law has been in existence since 1963

• Some loopholes have been identified and need to be addressed

• It is for this reason that a new rent bill will be passed

Minister for Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye, has disclosed that a new rent law

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He explained that the existing rent bill was passed in 1963 and has outlived its purpose.

He continued that the new law aims at meeting the demands of both landlords and tenants in recent times.

The Housing Minister, in an interview with the media after touring the Rent Control Department in Accra said, "It is also obvious, having spoken to some landlords who have been dragged here by tenants that they are also facing challenges. It is, therefore, our duty to work on the very old Rent Act which was passed 60 years ago…it has outlived its usefulness so we are currently working on a new rent law that will reflect the dynamism of the rent market."

He admitted that the housing deficit remains one of the country's major challenges.

He added that tenants are mostly forced to live on the terms of landlords because they are in dire need of shelter.

"One of the underlying challenges of rent in this country is that we do not have a lot of housing opportunities for Ghanaians and as such, we have challenges at the supply side so many of the terms in our rents arrangements are dictated by landlords and we are caught up in the situation of take it or leave it and it doesn’t help at all," Francis Asenso-Boakye added.

The Works and Housing Minister observed that the Rent Control Department still uses what he termed as rudimentary methods in data collection.

The Minister said the Rent Control Department will soon have a digitized system to make their works easier.