Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing

The State Housing Company (SHC) has announced the opening of a housing register to help address the issue of delivering real affordable houses to Ghanaians. The register will be used to provide affordable houses to individuals and corporate bodies that apply.

Launched in February this year by the Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, the register is expected to assessthe housing needs and also provide an effective database for demand and availability of houses in the country.

The Managing Director of SHC, Mr Mark Nii Akwei Ankrah, noted that housing went beyond having a roof over one’s head and also served as a catalyst for development, hence the need for it to be taken seriously.

According to Mr Ankrah, SHC had provided 31, 000 housing units throughout Ghana since its establishment in the colonial era. He indicated that the register would provide scientific data on housing needs and also offer a more responsible way of delivering them. All applicants, he said, were going to be put through an economic assessment test to know the type of houses they could afford.

He noted that two strategies to be employed to deliver the houses to applicants included sustainable neighbourhood strategy, which would focus more on reducing the cost of houses and the urban regeneration strategy that would also focus on increasing the housing stock in some designated areas like Kaneshie, Kanda and Lartebiorkorshie.

Emphasising more on the Kaneshie Regeneration Project, Mr Ankrah indicated that housing units in the community would be tripled and allocation would be based on a first-to-come-first-to-be-served basis.

He disclosed that the contractor was on site to make preliminary investigations on the land and the expansion of the sewerage.

According to him, the first phase of this project was expected to end in 36 months and that, eleven high-rise buildings were expected to be constructed in the next four years.

He stressed that all those living in these areas whose houses would be affected were going to be housed in the new buildings without any cost.

Mr Ankrah said bad housing compromised human development and could negatively affect the character of any individual. “Housing is a fundamental human right and we should all play an important role to ensure this right is enjoyed by all”, he emphasized.

He expressed optimism that there would be transparency, fairness and accountability in the allocation of the houses to the applicants.

Source: ISD (Redeemer Quartey & Raymond Kwofie)

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