Government to boost housing industry

As part of efforts to boost housing supply and strengthen coastal protection, Government will continue to work on several housing projects.

Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, Finance Minister said the Government would continue to work on projects such as the Saglemi Housing Project, where 4,100 of 5,000 homes would be completed in 2019, and the Cape Coast, Anomabo and Anyanui-Keta coastal protection works.

He said the Government Affordable Housing Project at Asokore-Mampong for 1,030 housing units was 90 per cent complete.

Mr Ofori-Atta stated this in his presentation of the 2019 Budget Statement and Financial Policy of the Government to Parliament on Thursday.

He noted that as announced in the 2018 Budget Statement, work had been completed for the start of the pilot phase of the Mortgage and Housing Finance Market Scheme in November 2018.

He said an amount of GH¢40 million had been released for the pilot phase, which would leverage additional private sector funds of GH¢40 million from pensions, insurance and collective investment schemes through selected commercial banks.

He said a vibrant mortgage and housing finance ecosystem was key for social equity, economic development and job creation.

Mr Ofori-Atta said to scale up this initiative in 2019, Government had committed to a one billion Ghana cedis mortgage and housing finance fund, which would be seeded with a minimum of GH¢100 million every fiscal year over the next five years.

“This effort will support the private sector in expanding access to housing and deepen the local mortgage and construction finance market,” he said.

“The focus on fixing the financial system to support home-ownership by large segment of the populace is critical in government effort to enter into a social compact with labour.”

The Minister said the Government, through State Housing Corporation (SHC), was looking to partner with private sector developers to deliver housing across the country in every region and to complete all the uncompleted housing projects.

He said by encouraging the delivery of more homes under a variety of demand driven initiatives such as lower mortgage interest rates, rent-to-own schemes, dedicated income deductions for home ownership, and lowering the cost of home delivery, “we could create a housing market that works for everyone, meeting the diverse housing needs of the country.”

Mr Ofori-Atta said a total of 50 units of townhouses and 24 units of flats at Roman Ridge would be completed by the end of the year for public and civil servants under the redevelopment programme.

He said starting from 2019 and over the medium-term, about 200,000 housing units of various types would commence in all the regional capitals of the country towards reducing the national housing deficit.

“To mitigate accommodation and housing deficit in the Military, the Government continued the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) Housing Projects at various Garrisons in Accra, Tema, Ho, Tamale and Sekondi Takoradi, and expects completion in 2019,” he said.

“The first phase of the four 16 units Housing Projects under the Barracks Regeneration Project will be completed and commissioned before the end of this year, and the second phase will commence in 2019.”

Mr Ofori-Atta said the second phase of the Security Agencies Housing Project, comprising 368 housing units for the Ghana Navy, had been completed.

He said the Phase III comprising 320 housing units for the Ghana Police Service had commenced and would continue in 2019.

Source: GNA