More Firms Go Into Housing

By Samuel Boadi An explosion is about to hit the country’s housing sector if some 90 companies which have applied to the Ministry of Water Resources, Works & Housing to build mortgage houses across the country are given the green light to do so. So far, four out of the 90 companies have been granted permission to do so and these include Ital Construct, which is expected to build 4,000 housing units, American Capital, which has partnered local companies to build 5,000 units, the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) and the Commonwealth Business Council. Their applications were approved in April, this year. Enoch Teye Mensah, Minister of Water Resources, Works & Housing, disclosed this to the media in Accra at the weekend. He added that the units would be completed before the conventional periods for building in Ghana since the companies would be employing new building technology. A seven-member committee, set up by the ministry, is investigating the backgrounds of the applicants to determine whether they have the means and integrity to execute their jobs. Others that are waiting to be approved include Amandy Company and a company from Brazil which has entered into agreement with Ghana Home Loans, among others. Also, SSNIT and Regimanuel Grey Limited are collaborating to build some 700 housing units at Klagon, near Nungua in Greater Accra. The minister noted that such housing units are specifically targeted at Ghanaians who are unable to own houses, adding that the houses would be affordable. Currently, Ghana’s housing deficit stands at 1,700,000 units per annum. Generally, a lot of people in Ghana, including workers, cannot feed themselves effectively a day, let alone save some money towards the construction of a house. To further dash their hopes of ever owning houses, their SSNIT contributions are being allegedly mismanaged and enjoyed by employees of entities that manage such funds. Ghana recently joined Shelter-Afrique, a pan-African financial institution to enable real estate developers gain access to funds at moderate interest rates to assist the provision of more housing units for Ghanaians. Ghana was admitted as the 43rd member of Shelter –Afrique, a company, headquartered in Nairobi Kenya in 2011. Habitat Ghana, a subsidiary of Habitat for Humanity (HFH), wants to build about 20,000 housing units for Ghana’s poor. Should all the applicant companies be offered permission to build houses, there would be more mortgage houses for grabs but an aspect to contend with is the affordability of such houses. South Africa’s foremost financial services company, FirstRand Limited has disclosed plans to invest proceeds of its $250 million fund raising exercise across major West and Southern African real estate markets, particularly Nigeria, Ghana and Angola.