Ghana government enters housing mortgage arrangement with Finance Ministry
Mr Samuel Atta-Akyea, the Minister of Works and Housing, Tuesday said government has entered into a mortgage arrangement, using the pension fund, with the Ministry of Finance to offer middle-to-low income earners the opportunity to own houses.
He explained that, most of the housing deliveries the Ministry was undertaking with the State Housing Company, was intended to help the low and middle income population, however, it could only be beneficial to them if it created a credible mortgage system to roll-out the support.
“That person may not have money in his or her hand to buy a property upfront but if he goes through a mortgage arrangement that will not take away all his salary within the span of about twenty years, the person can have a two bedroom house and this is where we should focus on.
We should apply simple principles like that to ensure that people who are low income earners will be able to own houses over a stretch of time of twenty years”, he said.
The Minister made this known during a tour of the State Housing Company’s family housing bungalows project being constructed at North Kaneshie and Adenta in Accra.
He said transforming the State Housing Company into a limited liability company was a good step and would enable the Company to expand housing in the country.
Mr Atta-Akyea explained that the project was not being funded from government sources, and that, the State Housing Company was doing so through its internally generated funds,, adding that, “They are not being subverted by the government.”
Mr Kwabena Appiah, the Managing Director (MD) of the State Housing Company said costing of the two, three and four bedroom bungalows under construction would be done upon completion, explaining that, it would depend on how much would be invested into the full construction.
In the past, he said, nearly 100 per cent of the housing projects were outsourced to contractors, however, the Company had been retooled, especially with construction equipment and others, to enable it to construct the houses on its own.
Mr Appiah explained that the Company was able to do this with its internally generated fund obtained from selling its existing homes, non-lease renewal, and rental of properties.
The Company, he said, assessed that it could manage the projects better, instead of giving it to third parties.
“So far, it has been profitable and we have been able to make some collections, and the result of the collections is the beautiful edifices you see around North Kaneshie and Adenta,” he said.
Other projects the Company was undertaking are the “John Agyekum Kufuor” estate, which is expected to contain about 120 houses in Kumasi, as well as other similar ones in Cape Coast, Sunyani and Tamale.
The MD said the decision on whether the houses would be given out only for sale or also for rentals would be determined upon completion.
Source: GNA