Government to Establish a National Housing and Mortgage Fund

By Solace Esi Amankwa

The Ministry of Works and Housing is to establish a National Housing and Mortgage Fund for the housing industry in Ghana.

The Fund will be sourced from pension funds, housing bonds, grants, insurance companies, the primary reserve of the central bank, treasury, single account and tax incentives.

It will be a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that will leverage private capital investment in the housing and infrastructure industry and also aid the Ministry of Works and Housing to channel long term appropriate priced financing towards the housing sector.

Announcing this at the Meet-the-Press series in Accra on Tuesday, the Minister for Works and Housing, Samuel Atta Akyea revealed that this would be the first time a credible fund is created for financial mortgage regime in Ghana and this would enable majority of the citizenry, especially workers to have their own homes when they are no longer in active service.

The Minister, who elaborated on the achievements of the Works and Housing sector so far, said a bill towards the establishment of a real estate authority to regulate real estate activities -- sale, purchase, rental and leasing of real estate and its related fixed assets in the industry -- would soon be submitted to Parliament for consideration.

He added that the government was embarking on a housing programme aimed at constructing 250,000 housing units annually for the next eight years, through Public Private Partnership (PPP).

"It is estimated that Ghana's housing deficit is currently more than two million, whereas the annual housing requirement is about 250,000 units, supply figures are about 45,000 units per annum, holding all factors constant," he said.

In order to address the housing needs of the security services, Mr. Atta Akyea said the government had made a provision for the construction of 40,000 housing units with MESSRS SINOHYDRO for the security services throughout the country.

The security services that would be benefiting from these services are the Ghana Armed Forces, Ghana Prisons Service, Ghana Police Service, Ghana National Fire Service and the Ghana Immigration Service.

The Ministry has also started the process of constructing 320 housing units for security services under Phase III of the Security Services Housing Programme for the Ghana Police Service at its Training School in Tesano.

He announced that the Works and Housing Ministry was collaborating with the Ministries of Lands and Natural Resources, Inner City and Zongo Development to upgrade slum arrears such us Nima and Maamobi to a world-class residential areas.

"The growing incidence of slum development in Ghana has been the result of rural-urban migration, limited supply of land, and regulatory frameworks that are, at best, indifferent and hostile to the needs of the poor. Even though Nima and Maamobi routinely suffer from inadequate provisions of basic facilities such as housing, water, electricity and drainage systems, the communities continue to grow," he said.

"The transformation of approximately 1,039 acres of prime land, which Nima and Maamobi occupy, will give meaning and beauty to the President's vision of Inner City and Zongo Development. To this end, we are collaborating with the Ministries of Lands and Natural Resources and Inner City and Zongo Development, to make the aforesaid area a world-class residential enclave close to Jubilee House, the seat of Government without dislodging our good people who currently dwell in Nima and Maamobi," he added.

On the issues of perennial flooding, the Mr. Attah Akya disclosed that a National Hydrology Authority (NHA), would be established to develop comprehensive solutions to mitigate the effects of flooding and the protection of inland and coastlines. This, he said, was part of the government's commitment towards stemming the effects of flooding across the country.

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